I Ask Only This
by animemaniac27894567
Summary: A strange mission given to them by a deceased friend can only bring these two closer... right? RikkuXGippal Warning: Character Death!
1. Proulouge

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey, uh, Rikku? Gippal?"

_Now that I think about it._

"Can I talk to you?"

_He knew._

"Sure thing, boss man."

_He must have known this would have happened._

He waited until we turned to him and then some.

_He must have known how it played out. _

"Lemme guess. Yunie's pregnant, right?"

_He asked her to come along because he trusted her almost as much as he trusts Yuna._

"No."

_He asked me, because someone had to protect her._

"I have a request."

_He needed a trusted friends help._

"It's a special mission. I can't ask Yuna. And if you want to help, you can't tell her."

_Like one of Yuna's original Guardians. But not Yuna._

"It's pretty dangerous."

_He didn't want to risk her life. Just in case._

"I'll understand if you don't agree to this. I won't be mad."

_So he took me as back-up. In case the 'worst-case' happened to Rikku._

"We have to find something. Rikku, you used to dive for old Machina parts."

_But...still...I feel that I could have done...something._

"It's a special sphere. We need to find it. It could help save the world again."

_Me and him were never close. I didn't understand why he asked me..._

"I feel...that I can trust you two."

_...until it was to late._

"Tidus! No!"

_I'm so sorry._

"No! Don't die! You can't die!"

_I didn't mean for this to happen._

"What will happen to Yuna?!"

_I'm sorry._

"You can't die! I won't let you!"

_I'm sorry, Tidus..._

"Don't...just don't die..."

_I couldn't save you..._

"Please...don't leave Yuna."

_I'm sorry, Rikku..._

"Don't leave, Tidus."

_I couldn't save him. _

"Rikku..."

_I sorry your cousins alone now._

"We have to leave..."

_I'm so, so sorry. I let you all down._

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

___**Authoresse Note**_

Well? Kinda confusing, huh? Yeah. It's just a bunch of future quotes from the fic. Except the thoughts. That's Gippal relfecting. Yeah. It'll be a Rikku/Gippa; fic, so ignore the slight Rikku/Tidus there. She was just mad that her cousin was alone and all that. I believe Gippal said that... Anyway R&R.


	2. No One Will Laugh

Disclaimer

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Hey, uh, Rikku, Gippal?" We both glanced up."Can I talk to you?"

She grinned at her cousin's fiance. I just nodded. "Sure thing, boss man." She said cheerily, pushing a few of her braids over her shoulder.We followed him into another room, just down the hall from the happy couples living room. He waited until we turned to him, and then some. Tidus leaned carefully against the wall.

His mouth opened a few times before Rikku interupted him. "Lemme guess. Yunie's pregnant, right?"

A red blush creeped across his face. "No." He said quietly. Rikku's grin faded at his tone. "I have a request."

I paused. Something about the way he said it peaked my interest. But not in a good way. "'Request?' What kind of request?"

"It's a special mission." Tidus stated, fingering his sword's hilt. It took me a moment to realize he was mimicking me. My fingers were travelling along the barrell of my hidden pistol. "I can't ask Yuna."

I could see Rikku was curious as well. "Why not? Does it have something to with with Sin? Or Vegnagun?" I noticed Tidus wince when she mentioned _'Sin_.' But ignored it and shoved it into the back of my mind for later inspection.

"It's dangerous and you don't want to risk you fiance." I stated. I noticed Rikku glance at me, so I turned to her. "What if I don't want to risk Rikku life? Let alone my own?"

"It is riksy. And if you want to help, you can't tell her-" Tidus continued.

"What?!" Rikku hissed, so as not to alert the others I guess. "Why should we risk our lives when its so dangerous you don't even want Yunie to know?!"

"-It's pretty dangerous." He continued as if Rikku hadn't said anything. "I'll understand if you don't agree to this. I won't be mad."

"Who said anything about not agreeing?" Rikku asked, when Tidus turned to leave. Both of us turned to her, with nothing short of confusion. "I was just asking what I'm doing. I mean is that to much too ask? I'm not sure what Gippal'll choose but I'll help you. It's the least I can do, I mean with all the happiness you brought my cousin."

I smirked. "Well, if she's going I'm going. Can't let a Cid's Girl be alone with someone like _you _for more than a minute." I shrugged. Well, at least that's what I told myself anyway. But, I just couldn't stand the thought of something happening to her. "So what're we doing?"

"We have to find something." He said, all business. It was weird seeing someone who, up until that point, I assumed only had air to keep his skull from caving in. "Rikku, you used to dive for old Machina parts before. That's how we met. I have a feeling it's underwater. It might get damaged so we need to get it soon."

I held up my hand. "Well-" I paused when Wakka came into the hallway, chasing Vidina. He followed the baby around the corner, before I continued. "Well, what're we looking for? What's so important about it? Why do we have to dive for it and not just get another one?"

"It's a special sphere." He turned to Rikku. "Remember when we found... we found... found Zecht's sphere?" His voice had hesitation, like he wasn't sure he was willing to say Sir Zecht's name. I wonder why...

"Yeah. It had a bunch of stuff he wanted to show you on it, right?" She asked calmly, fiddling with a small Machina robot in her hand. "What about it?"

"I think I found another of his sphere's. Except this one has something important for the survival of Spira." He said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "We need to find it. It could save the world again."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yeah, so I guess that means it's my turn, huh? Ah, well. Well anyway. I'm not really sure why I even agreed. Much less why Gippy did. But it was probably what he said, or the way he said it.

We were on one of those Machine sled things. It had a big compartment in the back. So it sorta acted like a carriage that travelled around Mount Gagazet. Lucky for us, me, Tidus and Kimahri had remained in touch. Actually we usually had a six-way sphere chat, with the com-thingies Shinra made not long ago, with all the old guardians, and Yuna. Anyway. Kimahri was bringing us to a small lake just outside the Gagazet borders. It's only visable during the summer, when the snow everywhere else melts and travels here. So I don't really think it's on any maps.

We were approaching the lake. No matter how many maps it was on, it was still the size of the Lake Macalania. Maybe even bigger. Anyway, all I know is that we were there in no time. Tidus told Kimahri we were there for ice-fishing. The Ronso didn't put up much of an arguement to that. He had told us there was problems with some of the fiends in the area. Apparently the arena near there had a broken wall that lead to the mountain and Kimahri had to round them up. Man! That owner guy is such a wimp! He should get a new job if he's so scared of fiends.

Unfortunately for us, it was somewhere between spring and summer. So most of the ice was cracked. Leaveing only a bunch of large ice squares floating around. So we had to jump over the gaps. When we were near the first one, I slipped and my foot got wet. Yeah. Ice melt is _Lumt_!

But when we were about half-way to the half-way mark of the lake, I think thats a quarter, Tidus turned to us.

Gippal was helping me cross and particularily large gap so neither of us noticed until he cleared his throat. We turned, almost in unison.

"Rikku...Gippal. There's something I need to say." He said slowly.

To be honest I had never seen Tidus so scared. Not now, not when Yuna got married to Seymour, not when Dad blew Home up... Not even when we fought Sin. But he looked scared now. I'd like to think it was because we had adrenaline working for us when we fought Sin. But I knew we had enough adrenaline now. I didn't understand why he was scared, at first I thought he was scared of the ice. Or freezing. I understand now...

"I feel... that I can trust you two..." He turned to us with a sad smile. "Promise... Promise me, that you'll help take care of Yuna."

We exchanged glances. Me and Gippal. Both thinking the same thing. I think Gippal had been thinking it for a while... but I couldn't deal with it. I didn't want to. Couldn't. _Wouldn't_.

"W-What are you talking about?" I asked nervously.

Tidus just grinned that strange grin of his, the one that always meant trouble for us Guardians, before he turned to Gippal. "You know why I brought you?"

Gippal just nodded. Without another word, Tidus pulled his sword out and had sliced it across his lower arm. Leaving a large gash there. I gasped and I could see Tidus wince. A trail of blood leaked down his arm and into the water. The swordsman pulled a cloth from his pocket and wrapped his around his arm. He and Gippal, pulling me with him, took a few steps back. I barely noticed that Gippal had taken his canon-thing out. Without thinking, I pulled my daggers out.

Then, my whole life turned up and down so many times, I'm _still _dizzy!

The iceberg we were on began to crack. Tidus jumped towards the iceberg on our left and Gippal pulled me to the right one. I could hear Tidus yelling something at us. But it was muffled by the ice.

Without warning, a large, brown Walrus-looking fiend shot out of the water. I froze. The thing was probably bigger than a house! Bigger than two houses stacked on top of each other! I was brought out of my mental images, of a giant Vidina, stacking buildings on each other to make this thing, when a loud explosion sounded next to me.

My first thought was that another one had come, but then I noticed the smoke billowing out of Gippal's gun barrell. The creature let out a large roar. I actually thought I couldn't hear anything until a scream met my ears. My head shot up. The creature was flailing around in pain. It's large fin-things were shooting in all directions, one hit the iceberg next to me and Gippal. The other slammed right into Tidus's.

"Tidus! No!"

I'm not sure when, but it occured to me that the screaming had been me. Tidus was calm. He was standing with his sword held loosely in his hand. The tip resting on the snow. Gippal was still trying to take aim at the flailing creature.

Then it happened. The fin slammed into the iceberg. Into Tidus. Everything seemed to freeze. I'm not sure why, but ever since I met him on that ship, I always thought he was... Superman. Like he was invinsible or something. And that image kept growing the more we did. When he stood up to Wakka, to protect me and my Al Bhed heritage. When he stopped Yuna from getting married.. When we escpaed that underwater jail thing. And each time we beat Seymour to the curb. I think he surpassed Superman when we defeated Sin, though.

My eyes snapped back into focus when a feral battle cry hit my ears. The creatures fin split in two. From between the thin material, Tidus came. His sword held high, aiming for the fiends eyes. Within seconds the sword was shoved to the hilt in the fiend and blood was oozing down its face. It was all I could do to hold my lunch down.

A explosion echoed beside me again. But I didn't flinch, Gippal shot the fiend through the heart, (Do fiends have hearts?) It was over. The walrus thing fell not far from us. I could see Tidus pull his sword out and land on the ice next to the slowly disipating fiend, I set my head down so I could focus on where to put my feet. Didn't want to slip and fall in, now did I? That wouldn't have been cool.

By the time we reached Tidus. The fiend had turned into a flock (Flock? Or is it herd?) of pyreflies. A small orb was half in the snow from where it disappeared. Gippal made a bee-line for it. I did the same, Tidus didn't. He was laying face down in the snow. Poor guy. Must be exhausted. It never really occured to me, that the blood he was coated in wasn't the fiends. But it did when I approched. I could see a large gapping hole in his stomach. His arm had a slash that went almost all the way through. There were numerous cuts and bruises lining every other piece of skin.

I dove forwards. Sitting on my knees I pulled him towards me, so he was on his back.

"Tidus?" I asked. I could hear all hope, joy and every other good, happy emotion disappear from my voice. "Hey, Tidus wake up."

I heard a soft chuckle come from the swordsman and felt my heart relax, but only a bit.

"Did'ja get it?" He asked. His voice was no more than a slurred, raspy whisper.

"Don't talk." I said weakly, quietly. "We'll... we'll find Kimahri. And a doctor."

"No." Tidus said slowly. "Where is it?"

"I have it." Gippal responded, holding the sphere up so it was in the swordsman's vision.

"Good."

I could see his eyes turning glassy. They started to fade and become dull.

"Tidus. Tidus." I said slowly, as if testing it out. "No!"

"Rikku." Gippal said quietly.

"No! Don't die!" I screamed. Yeah. I could hear the hysterics in my voice. "You can't die! No!"

I barely felt Gippal's hand on my shoulder. My whole body was numb. Not from the cold, though. I actually felt warm. It was probably my anger. I get like that sometimes.

"What will happen to Yuna?!" I screamed at his body. I begged at it. As if that would bring him back. "You can't die! I won't let you!"

"Rikku." Gippal repeated. I could vaguely feel him reach into my pocket and pull out the comsphere Shinra gave me. All us Guardians, Paine, Shinra, Buddy, and, I think, Brother all had one. So we could keep in touch. I could hear him talking. "Hey, Kimahri. Can you...pick us up? We're... a...a man down."

"Of course." Was Kimahri's response. "Anything to get away from these fiends." I knew that was his attempt at a joke, but no one laughed. No one. No one _will _laugh. Not for a long time.

"Don't...just don't die." Even with all that going on behind me, all I heard was my own voice. It had become no more than a whisper. I guess yelling does that. I was losing my voice. "Please...don't leave Yuna behind."

I heard Gippal close my comsphere and I felt him shove it back in my pocket.

"Don't leave again, Tidus." I mumbled again.

"Rikku..." Gippal said quietly. I could feel his hand on my shoulder again. It was warm. It felt nice. The feeling spread across my body like a calming effect. I stood up slowly, testing my legs. "We have to leave..."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lumt---------------------------------Cold

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Authoresse Note

Yeah... *sobs*. Well, I'm trying different POV's for my stories. Which was better Rikku's or Gippal's? Rikku's showed her happy-go-lucky side a bit more than I showed Gippal's personality. But to be fair he knew that Tidus was going to die. Would you be happy if that happened? Probably not... Anyway R&R!


	3. Pepper Spray

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm almost positive Rikku's in denial.

She was crying up until Kimahri got here. It took a while of explaining. Then, about half way to Kimahri's small cottage, she started going on about how Tidus would be fine once we 'warmed him up.' Apparently he was 'just frozen', so we couldn't feel his heart beat. Because it was frozen, too. Everytime she'd say something like that I'd swear on my mother's grave,(she's not really dead but it still counts, right?), that I saw a few tears shimmering in Kimahri's eyes. I didn't know whether it was because he didn't want to have to break it to Rikku, or if he didn't want to break it to himself.

But she was right about the frozen thing. That's probably the only reason he hadn't turned into a cluster of pyreflies.

But it was pretty nasty work before Kimahri got there. Rikku was sobbing into the guys chest. While I was trying to wrap his body up.

Apparently Kimahri called the others and told them to meet us at his place. Rikku was currently going on and on about how we were _'getting worked up over nothing'..._ I'm not the one with tears frozen to my face.

Why does _he _mean so much to _her _anyway? Did they used to... date... before he went with Yuna, I mean? Or did she have feelings for him? Or vice-versa? Ah! To many questions!

Wait! Why am I thinking _that_? I-It must be over-brotherly stuff. We have a brother-sister love-hate relationship.

Did I just say _love_-hate?! What's wrong with me today?! It's just the stress. Just the stress. I swear!

"We here."

The deep Ronso voice broke through my thoughts. I glanced up, he was looking back at Rikku and me with sad eyes.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So, me and Kmiahri had decided to leave Tidu's body outside, wrapped in a blue tarp. If we brought him in here, he'd turn into pyreflies and end up in the Farplanes.

Rikku had realized he was dead when he left him outside. I was letting her cry on my shoulder. Kimahri had his back to us and was poking the fire with his stick. I could see his shoulders shaking. He was crying. Silently though. But I wasn't about to rag on him for it, he had every right. I knew how close these guys were. I glanced out the window when I heard the soft buzz of the engine. The definite sign of the Celsius. Great. Time to tell the not-going-to-be bride-to-be. I really wasn't looking forward to that. At least it took people a while to climb this far up the mountain. Unless they brought a Machina for it. Spira, I hope not.

I gently ran a hand over Rikku's hair. Her face was still pressed into my shoulder. I'm not even sure she heard the ship outside. Kimahri stood up. I think that's when Rikku realized she wasn't alone in the room. Her head darted in Kimahri's direction.

"Kimahri need time." He said quietly, but gruffy. I noticed a bit of wet fur under his eyes. My guess was right. "Alone."

Rikku sniffled, and I nodded. He pointed a clawed finger at a small door I hadn't noticed until he pointed it out.

"Beds there. You sleep."

Man, I love Ronso! They're so simple! It's awesome!

I saw Rikku nod and wander towards the bedroom door. But she didn't enter, instead she sat closer to the fire. Kimahri glanced at me. His eyes clearing making sure I was capable of protecting her. And that she didn't need protection _from _me. He glanced at the young Al Bhed princess once more before leaving and closing the door quietly.

I'm not sure how long it was. Minutes. Hours. Days. Years even. I just sat there, unmoving. Watching Rikku squirm in the cold. But the door opened again.

"I just saw Kimahri leave. Did you guys fight?"

I turned. Yuna stepped out of the doorway to let the others in. She glanced between me and Rikku. But the Al Bhed didn't turn to her cousin. I could see new tears slidding down her face and winced. I was about to ask Rikku if she wanted to tell the ex-summoner and her friends, when the summoner herself spoke up.

"I'll just wake Tidus up to tell him we're here." Yuna said calmly, she pointed at the door Kimahri had shown us earlier. "In there?"

A sob escaped Rikku, I watched her cover her face with her hands. Everyone froze, before turning to me. As if her crying was _my _fault. Rikku glanced at me from between her fingers, her green eyes said everything. She didn't have the guts to face them. So that left it with me.

I stood up, but not before Paine had come up to me. She pushed me down immediately. "I told you not to hurt Rikku!" She yelled, she swung around to Yuna. "Didn't I tell him?"

Yuna nodded weakly, patting Rikku on the back.

"See? I told you-" I held my hand up.

I stood up and pushed her back a bit. So I had more room.

"Stop...Paine." I said quietly. "I didn't make her cry. But I could have prevented it. And I'm sorry I didn't." I could feel Rikku's eyes on me, but I didn't turn. I knew me, her, and even Kimahri, felt it had been all our fault. Just because we were there. But I could have stopped him. He might not have listened, but I had fifured it out. I knew and I didn't do anything. I could have stopped it. "I'm sorry for making Rikku cry. I'm sorry for the situation. _Ramm_, I'm even sorry about the cold. I could have stopped it. But the idiot would have done it anyway."

I could see the anger in their eyes. They thought I meant Rikku. But I kept going.

"Stubborn. The idiot would have done it anyway. I coul...should have told you. But that wouldn't have helped. That would have put you all in danger. That's why me and Rikku were here. To bring this," I pulled the small sphere out. "back. I'm not sure why it's important. I'm just the delivery boy."

"So..." Paine said slowly. "Why's Rikku crying?"

A gasp escaped Yuna. "Did Tidus get hurt? Is he okay? Does he need my help? What can I d-"

"He's dead." I know it was simple and blunt. And probably one of the last things I'll ever do. But it was hard facing them. I know I haven't know them as long as they knew each other, or as _well _as each other, but they were like family.

"W...what?" Yuna asked quietly. "Who's...dead?"

"Tidus."

This time it wasn't me. Every eye turned to Rikku. Her face was still buried in her hands, but her voice was clear. I saw her shoulders shake again. I don't know what came over me, but a sudden urge to pull her into my arms and never let go took over me. My foot was half-way off the ground when my vision of her was obstructed by a dark-skinned Al Bhed.

Buddy.

He had an arm over her shoulder and a hand on her upper arm. Within seconds she was crying into his shoulder. Just like she had been doing for me a while ago... Ah! Why do I care?! She's like a sister! A sister! I swear! _Syh_!

Everything else was a blur. One minute Buddy and Brother were comforting Rikku and the next Paine and Rikku were comforting Yuna. I slightly remember having a conversation with Kimahri when he came back. But not really. After a while Brother came back (when did he leave?!) with a few bottles of wine and some packs of beer. He didn't even object when Rikku had some.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"We'll have lots of those little yellow flowers found of Besaid. He loves those!" Yuna said quickly. Her voice fell a bit. "Tidus... used to love them."

Paine sighed for the tenth time that day. I stood up so I could sit closer to Yuna. I place my hand on her shoulder in a way I hoped was comforting.

"And I'm sure he still does. So, we'll have to bring him lots of them, whenever we visit him in the Farplane." I said, trying to keep my cheery attitude up.

Without warning, Yuna had tackled me and was crying into the my shoulder. I glanced at Paine over my cousin's shoulder. She shrugged at me. Man! No back up, _Drec Cilgc!_ I patted Yunie's back helplessly. What was I supposed to do?! I can't tell her it'll be alright. No way. I'd be scarred forever if this happened to me. Well, techinically it did. But I don't think my _Sudran _counts.

"Hey, uh, Rikku can I talk to you?"

We turned. Gippal was standing there, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. I gently eased Yunie away from me and onto Paine's shoulder. When I passed her, Paine muttered, "If he gets to close or hurts you, just call."

"Scream as loud as I can." I said, just as quietly. I could feel a small grin tugging at the corners of my lips.

Before I left, I swear I could hear Paine muttering about _'bad timings' _and _'how the Fayth hated her for something_.' The grin broke through as the door closed. I turned to Gippal and leaned against the wall.

"What's up?" I asked calmly.

"You know that sphere?" He said. Straight to the point... how original.

"How could I forget?" It had been a week. Funeral plans were taking a bit long, but only becuase Yuna kept breaking down and insisting on doing it herself with no one, but myself and Paine, with her. Wait...

Why are we answering questions with questions? Weird...

"Well, I looked at what was on it a while ago. And-"

"Your just telling me now?" I asked, faking hurt and anger.

"Okay. It was an hour ago." Gippal said, acting as if it pained him to tell me. I giggled. "But, I'm almost positive the sphere had the former maester Seymour on it. He was talking about what to do if he died. They were orders. It was a way to bring back the dead. So I figu-"

"Someone's trying to bring Seymour back?" I almost screamed. Whoa. I sure intterupt him alot.

"No-" He paused. "Never thought about that. But I figured we could bring blondie back. You and me would. So we don't have to get your cousin's hopes up." His voice was full of excitement.

"With someone trying to bring Seymour back?" I asked.

"For all we know this might have been found and ignored. Someone might have thrown it away so they wouldn't have to listen to these orders." He stepped closer and placed an arm over my shoulder. "Think of it this way. Tidus asked us to help him. You can't help but think that he wanted us to go through with this, right?"

I stared at him in disbelief.

As crazy as it sounds...his logic made sense to me. I could see where he was coming from. And I could also see Tidus doing something like that.

So that's where we are now. On a machbike. It's basically a Machina motercycle that me, Brother, Buddy, Shinra, and Gippal made last summer when we were bored. It holds two so I was behind Gippal and had my arms around his waist. It was made to go through deep sand, and go fast while pushing through trenchs, sand-traps, and quicksand. So, on regular roads, it went _'bnaddo tysh vycd'_ in Brother's words. In normal speak it went '_pretty _damn fast.

We left without telling anyone. Well, I told BarKeep I was leaving for a while. But only because he threatened to tell Yuna. So I told him I was going on a little... around the world tour. I packed some nessecities, and pepper-spray. You never know where Gippal might put his hands. So, we're approaching a town... I think it's Luca. It's not Blitzball season so they should have a few empty rooms. They better have two. Or one with two beds in one room. Or one with two rooms. Better get two rooms, just to be safe. Ah, whatever.

We pulled the Machbike up next to an Inn. Gippal pressed a set of buttons on the keypad. Before anyone had time to say _'Frana dra ramm't dryd pega ku?!' _in other words, 'Where the hell'd that bike go?!', it disappeared. A few people did, not in Al Bhed if your wondering. A small rectangular box was sitting where it had been. We programmed the bike to shrink when we told it to. Vydran doesn't approve of me, or Brother, riding anything faster than a Cactuar. So Shinra made it shrink to a palm-sized paper weight. I grinned at that.

Gippal held the Inn's door open for me.

"After you, _Semyto_." He said, bowing me in. A few people glanced at the Al Bhed, but ignored it. It's true, rascism had gotten a bit better. People weren't open about their hatred. But it was still there.

Lucky us. There were only two rooms left. So we each took one. There was a door between them that we both left unlocked. Just in case.

And besides. If he tried anything...

I always had the pepper spray.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ramm======================Hell

Drec Cilgc===================This Sucks

bnaddo tysh vycd==============Pretty Damn Fast

Frana dra ramm't dryd pega ku?!====Where the hell'd that bike go?!

Semyto=====================Milady

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_**Authoresse Note**_

Yeah me! I finished chapter 2. Syh! It took me soooooooo long to think up a name. I mean seriously. I was sitting here, listening to Relient K's Failure to Excommunicate, for what was probably half an hour. No joke. But then I got bored and started reading other fanfictions. Then it hit me. Pepper Spray! Perfect! Woohoo! Anyway R&R!


	4. Kiki

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

Again. Me and Rikku are arguing. Again!

"Stupid and pointless!"

We've been having this fight since we left the Inn this morning. She was fiddling with a small, palm-sized Machina. It was just a bunch of wires and some Al Bhed metal (strongest in Spira!) but it was coming along. It was pretty good, considering she started it on a Machbike, a half an hour ago, and while she was yelling at me over the roar of this damned engine.

But I had a theory that if, since this sphere is only an introduction to renewed life, the others would either be in Maester Seymour's old house, now leBlanc's, or his temple. Rikku agrees with the house but she keeps saying how stupid the temple idea is.

We were getting along pretty well, considering our relationship up until that point... _None_! We usually ignored each other after our few dates when we were kids. I'd tease her about it and she'd get mad. _That _was our relationship. And now we're stuck together like this. Why _did _I ask her anyway?

I mean, the Macalania temple was just beside Guadosalam, not considering the Thunder Plains were ther-

Oh, _lnyb_! She's terrified of thunder... Man... I didn't even think of that.

"Why would he put directions like _this, _in a place like th-"

"You'll stay in Guadosalam." I said simply. I turned around slightly, my good eye still on the road, but my helmet covered my eye patch so she wouldn't notice. "I'll go to the temple and get the sphere, alright?"

She paused her tinkering enough to glance up at me. I could feel the thankfull expression on her face.

"I'll check leBlanc's and you'll check the temple?" She asked quietly, I could barely hear her over the engine. I nodded once, risking a glance back at her.

She had turned back to her Machina, a faint blush spread across her face.

I sighed. This had better be worth it. Since Blondie set me with the job of protecting Rikku, and bringing the sphere back I'd gotten extremely protective of her. I hated being away from her more than abosolutely neccesary. I told myself it was strictly brotherly feelings. But some part of me... It new better.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I quickly risked a glance around the corner. Nothing. No guards. Nothing. Now if that wasn't strange, I don't know what is.

Since Seymour... let's say died, Guards had been placed all over his house. LeBlanc had some major trust issues, you know? It was strange to find any hallway with no guards. Not even one.

I bent down and reached into my pocket. The small Machina I had been playing with was sitting in my palm. It wasn't as pretty as some Machina, I hadn't set the protective shell into place yet, so you could see the wires and screws inside, but it was in working order. I carefully pulled my screwdriver out and jabbed it into a thin button, not accesible with fingers. It came to life.

The small yellow Christmas lights, it's eyes, flashed to life. I could see the small gears inside it moving around. It was taking in its surroundings. The eyes finally settled on me. A annoying buzzing noise echoed from it. Oh, yeah. I forgot to equip a voice box. Ah, well. Details...

I set it on the ground.

"All right. I have an important mission for you...uh... I forgot to give you a name, didn't I?" I asked quietly, it nodded. Well at least it understood me. "I need you to check around this place and see if you can find a sphere. Any sphere that looks important? Bring it." I reached into my backpack and pulled Seymour's sphere out. "Sphere's look like this. Find any and bring them to me. Can you do that?"

It nodded again, a quick sucsesion of buzzing and clicks echoed back to me. I giggled. It was really cute, I just had to make a good protective shell, and a not so annoying voice box...

Before I even realized it, my Machina was gone. It shot around the corner and out of sight. I have to say, it was one of my best ideas, attaching a walking chip from the 74 SF-falcon unit on it. See, the SF-Falcon is a specialty Machina that Buddy and Brother made when we were kids, its one of the fastest Machina in the world, to do their chores and stuff. It only runs on a few computer chips and the wires to connect them. I used that technology on my Machina, except without as many wires, because it doesn't do chores, just some re-con mission I might have. This was a perfect test-run for my baby.

Hey! Now I know why Buddy and Brother are so in love with their Machina. It feels good, you know? Making a Machina, I mean.

Without thinking, I pushed myself farther into the hole, so if any guard walked past they wouldn't see me, and pulled out a rounded sheet of metal. I spent all night getting the shape perfect to fit my Machina. Now I just needed to carve the hole for the bolts and some totally _yfacusa_ design. Then make a name...

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Maybe Rikku was right..." I muttered to myself as I slowly made my way back to Guadosalam. I glanced up when a particularily close bolt of lightning hit a tower. I sped up my pace. "Why would he hide it in the temple? He spent most of his time at his house..."

I slowly made my way into Guadosalam. My gaze darted around the town, looking for the braided blond hair I was used to. Wait! Did I just say I was _used _to Rikku?!

"It's just brotherly." I muttered, like a trance the whole way to Maester Seymour's house. I startled a few Guado on the way, but so what? It's just brotherly.

Before I had even reached the front I noticed Rikku. It wasn't all that hard, to be honest. Guado equals dark skin, dark hair. Rikku equals slightly tan skin, bright blond hair. Similarities?

I jogged over to Rikku. Her gaze was fixed on a sphere in her hand, I could see it was on, a strange creature-looking Machina on her shoulder. It actually sorta looked like a monkey...

"_Rao_, Rikku!" I called, ignoring the looks I was getting for using Al Bhed. Her head shot up. I lowered my voice when I reached her. "You found it?"

She shook her head. Then gestured to the monkey on her shoulder. "Kiki found it."

"Kiki?" I asked in bewilderment. "What on Spira's green earth is a Kiki?"

"Kiki is my Machina. I'm not really sure how, but he seems adaptable. I didn't program that feature...." She muttered, glancing at the Machina. It seemed to be sleeping on her shoulder. Wait, Sleeping? Machina don't sleep they're... nothing! Their inanimate objects! "I sent him out to see if he could find any sphere's, I didn't really think that he would be able to carry them. I wanted to see if I did make a re-con Machina but, when he didn't come back, I left. He found me awhile ago and looked like this. Well, techinically at the time he was bigger. Then when I took the Sphere's from him he shrunk." She shurugged, "_Ytybdypma_."

"Like our MachBike..." I murmured. I glanced at a few Guado who had come closer, and I don't think it was because of Rikku's invention. I grabbed the sphere from her hand and shoved it into my pocket. I grabbed her wrist with my other hand and pulled her towards the Inn. "We need some privacy." I said quietly, gesturing to the watching Guado.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"If you are watching this sphere...than I must have been sent. Whether at the hands of Lady Yuna, or from other causes... I don't know. But this is an important sphere. It contains instructions for those who follow me, after my death of course. If I am to die you need to..." A wave of static hit us like a train. We both covered our ears. Which wasn't the smartest idea. In Gippal's attempt to cover his ears, the sphere slipped from his palm and hit the floor.

The static immediately stopped, as did everything else on it. A large crack had appeared on the screen. We both stared at it for what felt like hours.

"You broke it." I said simply, keeping my eyes locked on the broken shards.

"How was I supposed to know it'd break?!" Gippal yelled, immediately taking up the defensive.

"Maybe Shinra can fix it..." I muttered ignoring his protests. "I'd better contact him..."

I reached into my back pocket. Empty. All my pockets were.

"Where in Spira is my CellSphere...?" I asked, reaching into all my backpack pockets. I paused. "Kiki! Where's my CellSphere?"

My small monkey-like Machina came running around the corner. He jumped onto my shoulder and slid down until he was in my arms. In his mouth was my small CellSphere.

"Thank you, Kiki." I said, hugging the small Machina.

"Hey... How'd you teach it to do that?" Gippal asked in disbelief. "Machina don't understand speech..."

"Kiki does. He's not normal." I responded, flipping the Cell open and selecting Shinra's name.

The normal ringing noise of the CellSphere's started playing. It rung for about five minutes.

"Hello?" Shinra's voice was exasperated. "Shinra speaking. How may I help you?"

"Wow, Shinra. So formal." I said cheerfully.

"Gippal says hi." Gippal said from across the room, he flung himself onto the bed and pulled the TeleSphere remote out.

"Rikku!" Shirna yelled from the other line. I heard his voice lower a bit, like he was talking to someone in the back. "Hey guys! It's Rikku!" His voice got louder again. "Where are you? Oh, hold on. I'll put you on speaker."

I paused, gently rocking Kiki back and forth. He yawned and curled in my arms. I'm not really sure why, but Kiki acts almost like a cross between a Machina and a human baby. He can eat, only when he wants to, he can understand human speech - only if he wants to-, and he sleeps. It's amazing. And I have no idea how I managed that. I'm to afraid to take him apart to find out.

"Okay." Shinra said slowly. His voice faded a bit, "You're on speaker. Where are you?"

"um..." I paused glancing out the window. "Guadosalam. Why? You sound worried. Is everyone okay?"

"Now we are. We all thought Gippal had kidnapped you." Another voice interupted, Buddy. "Did he? If he did I'll kill him."

"That's _it_?" Brother asked, I could hear the growl in his voice. "I'll skin him alive."

"No, no. Gippal didn't kidnap me." Gippal started choking on his soda. I grinned. "But I won't stop you from skinning him alive, though."

"Well, are you hur-" Another voice broke past interrupted Brothers. Someone in the background I couldn't hear. "Yeah! We got Rikku on the CommSphere."

I glanced at the ID display. It said 'Celsius ComSphere.' Huh... Coulda sworn I dialed Shinra's CellSphere. Oh, well.

"Why are you on the Celsius?" I asked slowly, trying to hear the other voice.

"We were looking for you, idiot." Was that Paine? "Where'd you go?"

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Yuna yelled before I could answer.

I paused, glancing at Kiki. "Hey, Gippy. Take Kiki for me."

He grumbled something in Al Bhed and took my Machina from me. "Hey there, K." He grinned over at me. "I'm gonna teach you all the important things Rikku doesn't want you to know."

"Don't you dare! If you even think to teach my baby swears, I'm taking Brother up on his offer!" I snapped at him, before holding the receiver to my ear again. There was no sound on the other side. "Hello? Did you hang up on me?"

"Your _baby_?" Buddy asked in disbelief. I could barely make out Brother hyperventalating. "You have a..._baby_?"

"uh..." What were they getting on about. "Yeah, Kiki. My baby Machina. Kiki."

"Oh, thank the Fayths." Brother moaned.

"What are you talking ab...Oh..." I started laughing. "Wow, you actually thought I had a baby?! Wow! How was I supposed to have a baby in a month?"

"I don't know! There's plenty of technology available." Brother shot back.

"Rikku!" Yuna snapped. I froze. Yuna never yelled. Not around me, anyway. "Why did you leave? Where are you? Why didn't you tell us?"

I paused, choosing the best way to tell them the least information. "Which one do you want me to answer first?" I asked, ignoring her tone. I was pretty good at that.

"Gippal says hi." Gippal said loudly from the bed again. I glared at him.

Yuna sighed. "Why did you leave?"

"Good choice." I said happily, at least she was calm now. No one can stay mad around me for long. Even Paine softened up a bit. "We...left because...um...because...of..." I glanced at Gippal, with what I was sure was a terrified expression. He was shaking his head rapidly from side to side. "I...uh...can't tell you that." Gippal slapped his forehead.

"Why?" Paine asked. I could hear the warning in her voice. I couldn't tell if she was mad at me for leaving or mad at Gippal for taking me.

"It's...personal." I responded, glaring at Gippal. He shrugged helplessly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Yuna asked. Always the peace-keeper.

"It's-"

"Don't even _think _of saying its personal." Paine warned.

"I wasn't going to." In truth I was. There goes that excuse. "Um... I didn't tell you because... of _this _very reason." I said, grabbing the first excuse I could. "You're over-reacting."

"Why are you in Guadosalam?" Paine asked, before Yuna could.

"Gippal's trying to scare me so he brought me to the Thunder Plains. I fainted and now we're here." I said calmly. I saw Gippal glaring at me. "One second." I covered the receiver. "Hey, you drag me here, don't let me tell, and then don't help me with the lies, I'm gonna make them mad at you for something." I pulled my hand off and held it to my ear. "Okay, I'm back."

"Gippal did _WHAT_?!" Yuna, Paine, Brother, and Buddy screamed in perfect unison.

I paused, rubbing my ear lightly. "One second." I flipped the phone to Gippal. "It's for you."

I pulled Kiki from his arms. Carfully carrying her over to the other bed.

"_Dnyedun_." Gippal growled out.

I grinned at him, and set Kiki onto the small desk. "Okay, Kiki. Let's try... a bird?"

Since we learnd Kiki could transform, we'd been trying everything possible. Every sentance structure, everything.

Kiki gave me a blank look. "um... you know...Gippal...right?" Kiki nodded.

I grinned, and grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil. I sketched a rough drawing of a fruit I remembered seeing outside.

"See this?" Kiki nodded, glancing at Gippal over my shoulder. I could hear him argueing, but ignored it. "Good. I need you to find this, and fly it to Gippal. If you can't do that, come back to me after...say...half an hour?" Kiki nodded and slipped out the window.

Hopefully my Machina would tell the difference between _'fly_,' _'bring_,' and _'eat_.' It almost worked once. Kiki had transformed into a bird for a second then come back as a monkey licking his lips.

I turned back to Gippal. He was glaring daggers at me. I copied his shrug from before. He ignored it, in favor of opening his mouth for a retort against whatever they said to him, but instead of his voice a loud caw-ing sounded.

Wait.

A _caw_? A bird?

My eyes darted around the room, much like Gippal.

"Hold that thought, Paine." He said slowly, glancing over at me with a confused face.

The caw sounded again. And a large black raven came shooting into the room. It dropped something on Gippal's lap and flew over to me, landing next to my right arm. Gippal gave me a strange look, and both of us turned to his lap.

Laying there as if it had been there the whole time, a small Guadosalam fruit. It's red-ish color sparkling in the dim light. I could feel a smile tuging at my lips. I glanced up at Gippal.

He was staring at the raven in disbelief. Apparently he had heard my orders for Kiki. I grinned when my pet turned back into my monkey and curled in my lap.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yfacusa=============Awesome

Rao================Hey

Ytybdypma===========Adaptable

Dnyedun=============Traitor

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_**Authoresse Note**_

Yeah...so...well...hmm...Chapter 3's done...uh...nothing else to say....cept Winter vacations coming up soon.... Yahoo!... R&R.


	5. She is Rikku

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I followed behind Gippal nervously. He sauntered down the ramp like he owned the place, well technically he did, but he did not own the angry group of Gullwings standing not far from us. I whimpered, and Kiki mimicked me. He had been doing that alot lately. Gippal turned back to me when we were about halfway down. He held out the broken Sphere.

"Alright, K. I need you to take this to Shinra." He pointed at the Gullwings. "The short one. Go _fly _it down to them."

Kiki turned to me. I took the sphere in my hand and wrapped it in a cloth so the pieces wouldn't drop. I tied it tightly and handed my monkey the package. I swear, everyday Kiki was becoming less Machina and more animal. I couldn't even find the places I'd bolted the metal together.

In less than a second Kiki had changed into a raven. We were almost at the bottom now. Kiki spread his wings and flew down the rest of the way. He dropped the package into Shinra's hands and flew back to me. Without his claws even touching my skin, he changed into a small monkey and curled into my arms. I giggled.

"Show off." I whispered to Gippal.

A grin spread across his face. "Wow. You finally get me, Cid's girl." He responded.

Me and Gippal walked the rest of the way. When we had almost reached them, he gently eased me in front of him and set his hands on my shoulders. It seemed like a casual enough gesture, but I knew he was, at the moment, as scared of the Gullwings as I was. As if Kiki sensed his fear, my pet jumped from my arms and into my backpack. By the time we reached my friends, Kiki had come out and was holding a small red fruit out to Gippal.

Gippal accepted in bewilderment. I tried not to laugh.

"Rikku!" Yuna ran forwards and wrapped her arms around me. I grinned and hugged her back.

"Hey, Yunie." I smiled over at Paine and the others. "How's it going?"

Without even glancing at me, Brother walked right up to Gippal. "Did you hurt her?!" He demanded.

Yuna pulled away, so she could watch the argument play out, and interfere when neccesary. I could feel Kiki moving around in my backpack. He's probably just hiding from all the anger. He's getting good at sensing emotions.

"_Sa_?" Gippal asked innocently, purposely using Al Bhed. "I have no idea what you mean."

"Fine." Brother ground out. "I'll say it slowly so even your pathetic brain can keep up. Did. You. Hurt. Rikku?!"

"N-" Gippal paused when Kiki jumped off my back and onto his. The small monkey held out the small red fruit, almost identical to the one Gippal was holding, to Brother. Everyone stared at it. When he didn't take it immediately, the most pathetic look crossed his face. He might as well have kicked him. Kiki dropped the fruit and dove into my arms. Luckily Gippal had caught the fruit before it hit the ground, Kiki wouldn't have liked it if it broke. Gippal glared at Brother. "_I_ didn't hurt Rikku. But it appears you hurt K-man."

"K-man?" Paine asked skepitically, finally joining the argument. "What on Spira is a K-man?"

"Kiki." I said quietly. I gently stroked his soft fur. "It's alright, sweetie. Brother's just a big bully."

"What is it?" Buddy asked, I could see the sparkle in his eye. He knew it was Machina. "That's your Machina? It looks so real."

"Kiki's a _he_. Not an it." I snapped.

Without warning, Yuna tackled me again. Causing both of us to fall over. "I missed you so much!" She cried. I glanced at the others over her shoulder in bewilderment. Paine shurgged, sighing slightly. Brother was glaring at Gippal and Buddy was trying to see past Yuna to get a look at Kiki. Shinra was crouched over and carefully examinging the broken sphere.

"What did you do to it?" The small Al Bhed asked. "I've never seen one so bad before."

I managed to struggle into a sitting position. "Can you fix it?"

"Yeah...It might take a while though. It's in horrible condition." He paused lost in thought. "But _seriously_, what _did _you do to it?"

"Gippy drop-"

"It got crushed under a Shoopuff." Gippal said quickly, shooting a glare at me. I grinned and cuddled Kiki.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I'm gonna need you to go to the Celsius and grab my tool kit for me." Shinra said slowly, when I didn't move he cleared his throat.

"What? You don't expect _me _to get it, do you?" I asked in disbelief.

"Oh, yeah." Paine said sarcastically. "Shiva forbid _you'd _have to do _any_thingthat would require moving."

I sent her a scathing look. But before I could retort Rikku spoke up.

"Kiki's getting it. Beside's Kiki's a lot faster than Gippy. Than _any _human really..." She shrugged. "He does need some time alone. It's his way of throwing a tantrum."

"Tantrum?" Brother repeated, in disbelief. "It's a Machina, Rikku. Machina don't feel anger... They feel _hudrehk_!" (Nothing!)

Rikku shrugged, glancing out at the ocean. "Whatever you say, Brother."

See, we're just outside of Besaid. We went to Djose, to pick up the Gullwings, and then to Besaid where the Celsius was waiting for them. Apparently it had gotten damaged during a storm a while back and it was still out of commision. We were standing on a small, newly made, fishing dock. Rikku had her legs hanging over the edge of one end, and a good ten meters away, from where we were crouched around Shinra, watching his progress.

I saw a black shape come swooping down and drop Shinra's tool kit into my waiting hands. I held them out to the short Al Bhed. "Here you go. Got it all by myself."

I watched Kiki landed beside Rikku, and change back into a monkey. He quickly curled in her lap.

"Quit babying him. Give him a chance to be a man, Cid's girl." I yelled over to her, flopping next to Shinra.

She shot a look that clearly said 'don't go there, Gippal,' I shrugged in response and grinned. She turned her back to us, in what I assumed was a pout. I laughed at her immaturatey. But for some reason, it was endearing. I always had some urge to make her pout, or throw a fit.

I wonder why...

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I gently rocked Kiki back and forth, ignoring the arguments of 'the best way to take apart a sphere' behind me. I kept my eyes on the horizen, it was oddly soothing. I didn't notice anything different until Kiki shifted. The small monkey was sitting on my knees and staring me in the eyes. Without a second's notice, he reach out and placed both of his hands on either side of my mouth. He pulled up, forcing my mouth into a smile. I grinned at him.

Kiki, like almost everyone else, preferred me when I was happy and excited. They hated seeing me down. It was nice, in a strange sorta way. A lot of pressure, though...

Kiki let one hand fall, but the other stayed on my cheek.

Suddenly all view of the ocean cut off, it was replaced by a vision of an Al Bhed girl. Wait, a minute.

That's me.

It was like looking at myself from another's point of view. Someone smaller. Like a monkey. Kiki was showing me...myself, from his perspective?

I was sitting there staring out at nothing in particular. The view shifted, to turn, and see where I was looking. The ocean. Kiki turned back and instead of reaching up and forcing my mouth into a smile, Kiki's memory morphed it into an angry expression. I blinked when the ocean came back.

I glanced down at Kiki. Was...he communicateing with me?

I shook my head slowly. "I'm not mad." I murmured, trying to decide how a Machina could do that. How a Machina could _think_.

Kiki touched my cheek again. Instead of an angry expression, it was sad. Tears were flowing down my cheeks and my eyes were slightly red. He pulled his hand away.

I shook my head again. "No. I'm not sad." I paused. "How'd you do that?" Kiki showed me the 'angry me' again. "No. I'm just shocked. I didn't think anything or anyone could do that."

Kiki shrugged helplessly. He touched my cheek again.

This was a memory of the time Kiki brought Gippal the fruit. Me and Gippal were laughing, he was clutching at his sides and I was clinging to the table so I wouldn't fall over.

I shrugged. "There's nothing funny to laugh about." Kiki shook his head and played the memory again. But it felt...different. Almost like a...question? "Do I want to feel like that?" I asked, Kiki nodded. Happy. "Sure...I guess. But there's nothing fun-"

Without warning, Kiki dove into the water. I shot forward. Pulling my legs back onto the deck and leaning over the side. Oh, no. Where was Kiki? Can Machina be suicidal? I don't think so. But then again Kiki isn't a normal Machina... Oh no.

My gaze shot all over the water. I was about to stand up when I saw something shimmer in the water. It was a silvery flash. But it was getting bigger. And Bigger. No, not bigger. Closer! I shoved myself into a standing position and turned to run when a loud splash sounded behind me. The silver flash darted into my vision and slammed into my stomach. It knocked the air out of me, and knocked me into the water.

I flew into the warm blue water, letting out a lung-full of air. I could feel the pressure getting stronger. I was sinking. No. Not sinking. Something was pulling me. But what?

I forced my eyes open, ignoring the pain in my chest, my lungs acheing for air. The silver torpedo-like object was pulling me down. It had my hand firmly wedged in it's mouth, it felt like my arm was being ripped from its socket. But I could feel something else in my hand. I pulled my free arm forward and pulled the object from my other hand.

It was a breather. Al Bhed-made, by the looks of it. It was a specially made Machina for teams, like me and Brother were, when I met first Tidus. It separated the oxygen from the water, whenever you breathed in. So you had air. I instantly shoved it between my teeth, and took a few, deep spluttering breaths. Suddenly the torpedo started slowling down. I forced my eyes open.

We were almost to the bottom. I could barely see the dock anymore. When we had come to a complete stop, I noticed instantly that it wasn't a torpedo.

It was a dolphin.

It let my hand slip from its mouth and swum in front of me, rolling around a bit. I reached forward, gently gripping the dorsal fin. It started moving. It wasn't as fast as before, but it was definately equal to a Chocobo. I grabbed the fin with my other hand and pulled myself onto its back. Leaning forward to keep a firm grip.

Without warning the dolphin's angle changed, it was going back up. A good fifty meters from the dock, but still up. I forced my eyes to stay open. I could feel the smile pulling at my lips.

It was exilarating.

We were almost there. Just a minute or two. It seemed alot longer on the way down. Probably because I was trying not to drown...

Only a bit to go.

Three.

Two.

We broke the surface. The dolphin shot so high in the air, I could see the whole island of Besaid from here. I pulled the breather out.

I'm not really sure why. Probably because my dad is Cid. But when we reached the peak of the leap, I pulled my arms from the dorsal fin, raised them above my head and yelled;

"Ye-Haa!"

As loud as my lungs would allow. I quickly grabbed the fin when our decent started, and we fell. Back to the water. We fell back in with a loud splash. I shoved the breather back into my mouth, as the dolphin started pulling me to shore.

Nothing could ruin this day. Nothing.

Nothing at all.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I'll have to get a new screen, this one's in to many pieces." Shinra muttered separating the wires. "And a new...."

"Can you fix it?" I asked nervously, if he couldn't our journey was as good as over. I risked a glance at Rikku, she was leaning over the deck and looking into the water. Probably just a school of fish.

Shinra hesitated. "It'd be easier to make a new one. I might be able to transfer the data to another one, but making a new one will be easier."

"I thought making sphere's was difficult. Only a few could do it." I muttered, more to myeslef than the others. "Can you?"

"You thought right." Shinra responded. "But I'm not one of the few who can."

"So you can't fix it?" I asked. I took the quest becuase I felt I owed something to Blondie. Why did it matter so much that I couldn't complete it?

Then I remembered Rikku. When we were on Mt. Gagazet. She was crying on my shoulder. Tidus' death just setting in. She was scared. Everything that happened, I remembered.

Her pale face. Her puffy red eyes. Her tear-stained cheeks. Even the few strands of hair that stuck to her forehead with sweat.

Yeah. I didn't want her to cry. She hadn't laughed since before he died and then when I brought up the journey she had started smiling again.

At least thats what I told myself.

All of us stared at the pile of Sphere trash in Shinra's lap. A loud scream broke through our thoughts. Except it was more of a cheer, than a scream.

"Ye-haa!"

She was happy.

She was exstatic.

She was Cid's girl.

No.

She was Rikku.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sa======================Me

Hudrehk!==================Nothing!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_**Authoresse Note**_

So...still nothing to report. But I was soo bored when I made this. And I was in a bad mood cause I just watched _'Invisible' _Great movie! Horrible ending... Annie dies! Can you believe it? It sucks, so I was in a emo-ish mood when I finished it. No! I'm not emo, but I was upset about the movie. So...yeah. Anyway. R&R.


	6. To be Thankfull

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Authoresse Note

Okay. So I'm gonna start making each chapter in just _one_ POV instead of switching. I'll start next chapter, but this is just a warning. I'm also moving the A/N to the top (as you can see) just because its easier for me to write it first, so...yeah... carry on.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Dolphin shot out of the water again, but instead of the water-filled, soft landing I was expecting, the creature had pulled us as close to the beach as it could and was about to flop itself onto the beach. But we were pretty high up. A landing at this height could hurt. Would hurt.

Oh, No.

This _was _going to hurt.

But before I could even finish my funeral plans, when we were about ten meters from the ground, the dolphin seemed to softened. So much that it almost felt like my bed back on the Celsius. My eyes darted open. Below me, instead of the slippery suicidal dolphin I was expecting, a soft triple-layered mattress was floating beneath me. But I didn't have enough time to think about that.

We, me and the mattress, fell smack-dab in the middle of Besaid's beach. When I opened my eyes, the comfortable mattress was gone, only to be replaced by my small monkey Kiki. I stared at him in disbelief. Until a voice broke through my thoughts.

"Well, well, Rikku. I have to say. Out of all the ways we coulda met again, I didn't quite picture it this way, ya?" A deep, slightly accented, voice chuckled.

I glared up at my friend. But instead of meeting his gaze, a large calloused hand obscured my view. I made a 'humph' sound but accepted the help. He yanked me to my feet so I was, more or less, face-to-face with him. My eyes narrowed and my lip puckered out into a pout.

"Bully." I muttered, before both our faces broke into wide grins. I smiled and pulled his into a hug. "Great to see you again, Wakka." I grinned over his shoulder, and slipped around him, pulling his wife and son into a hug as well. "Same to you, Lulu. And you Vidina!"

"Are you going to explain why you fell from the sky?" Lulu asked, readjusting Vidina in her arms. Wow! Even with a baby pulling on her hair, she still managed to look stern.

I grinned. "I'd rather not, but I will." I held out Kiki to Vidina. "This is Kiki, I made him..." So I went into a detailed description of how, and why, I made Kiki. Leaving out the sneaking into Leblanc's house, and finding Seymours sphere and Tidus' death. Cause that woulda been to hard for them to handle, you know? All the while, walking back towards the dock.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Great! So if you can't make a sphere, then can you transfer the data from this one to another one?" I asked hopefully. Everyone was staring at Shinra. Even Paine - she had started glaring at me not long after we sat down - stopped glaring at me enough to give the squirt a curious glance, man she was way to over-protective around Rikku and Yuna. Well, I know I kinda have a rep, and I know she never really started trusting me after the Crimson Squad...but that's in the past! I swear!

I turned my attention back to Shinra, he was giving the broken sphere a contemplating look. _Syh_! He could take a long time! After what felt like hours he opened his mouth and closed it a few times, then answered, "Maybe." He paused again, I had to bite back a groan. "I'll need a sphere as old as this one, and all my tools, possibly more. I'll need access to a major database...and...I will have to watch this. I'm assuming you and Rikku didn't tell us what you were doing because this is private. But if I'm to do this I'll have to watch it...Sorry..." (Man!)

"...Then..." I froze up. What could we do if this sphere broke? It might have been the last one, or have told how many more there are! If we can't tell if its the last one or not, how will we know to look, or where to look for that matter... No! I promised Blondie! And Gippal never goes back on his promises. Now what options do I have?

One. Get Shinra to fix it. No. If he saw this, he'd tell the others. And we can't risk getting Yuna's hopes up, or, Spira forbid, risk the chance that she might force Rikku to stay. No. Not even if the other choices don't work out.

Two. Give up on this sphere, and take the off chance that there are more. Unlikey. Even if we started looking, that broken sphere would've given some sorta clue to where the next one was. This'll be a last option, kinda thing.

Three. Go by the few directions on the one Tidus got from the Walrus fiend. Maybe. But if we miss an important step, we might bring back a monster, or even worse, Seymour.

Four... is there even a fourth option? Yes! There's always a fourth option! Think, Gippal, think!

I got it!

"Then, tell me how to fix it." I said, with determination.

Yuna shot a look in my direction. I could see Paine, Buddy, and Brother's eyes narrow considerably.

"Gippal..." Buddy said slowly. "What exactly is on this sphere...?"

I paused. How could I tell them, without freaking out Yuna and Paine, triggering the over-protection they all had for Rikku, hatred for me, or a vote to throw both of us in a phyciatric ward.... _Tysh_! I am _not _good at thinking of plans!

"I...can't tell you that." I muttered lamely. They all shot me dangerous looks, except Yuna, she sent a hurt look Rikku's way. A gasp escaped her lips, as she bolted up.

"Where's Rikku?!" She yelled. All of us spun around to face the Al Bhed.... Only to find nothing. Nothing was there. Not even Kiki. Yuna's head shot around, looking for her cousin, so fast I thought it was going to pop off. But then I realized everyone else, including me, was doing the exact same.

"Sorry, Yunie. I...uh...washed up on the beach."

We all swung around again. Rikku was walking towards us sheepishly, a bit behind Wakka, Lulu and their baby. She was rubbing the back of her neck, nervously, holding Kiki in front of her like a shield.

"Kiki's alot smater than I realized." She muttered. "Knows just how to cheer a person up, you know?"

Paine stood up. "We'll take about this back at Wakka's hut." She gestured to the approaching boat. "We're about to have company."

We nodded and followed her down the dock. I slowed my pace, so it matched Rikku's. I glanced at her. She was cradling Kiki like a baby, and grinning happily. I sighed, hating the fact that I had to break her happy moment.

"So we have four options." I told her, quietly

She glanced up at me. "About the sphere?" Confusion flickered across her face. "Does that mean Shinra can't fix it?"

I shook my head. "No. But he can move the data from this sphere, to another on. But that means he'll have to _watch_ whatevers on this." I paused, glanceing at her. Rikku nodded, taking in every word I said. "Or we could give up on this sphere and see if we can find more."

Rikku started. "But this might have had some clue-" I held up my hand, cutting her off. I risked a glanced forward, none of them were looking at us, they were all focused on getting to Wakka's place.

"I know." I said. Taking a deep breath, I followed my voice even more. "We could look at the one Tidus found and see if there are any more clues on that. Or... we could take the sphere, ditch them, find another sphere fixer in Bevelle or Luca, and get him to teach us to transfer the data."

She sent me a shocked expression. "Why? Why can't Shinra just-" I cut her off again. I sure am doing that alot today.

"Their suspicious. I asked if he could teach me, and it set off red lights for all of them. Their not gonna let us leave until they see it, and they won't give it back when Shinra's teaching us. We can't risk staying." I glanced at her again, hating myself so much for this. Rikku took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

"How long does it take to get your ship prepared?" She asked, quietly.

I sent her a sad smile and pulled out my CellSphere.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I tapped my fingers impatiently on the table in front of me. Watching the door of my _Tnays_. Rikku shouldn't have taken this long. She just had to get the sphere from Shinra, and come here. I should have gone with her. What if they caught her? They wouldn't do anything that would hurt her, I know that. But they'd probably take the sphere away and let Shinra fix it. Ruining our chances of getting Tidus back. Great... (Dream)

I groaned. My crew members sent me angry glares. I had been groaning since the ship had been prepared for take-off. Worrying was not in my nature, I was more of a 'front-lines' kinda guy. I didn't like being patient or calm or... well... you get the picture.

A soft mechanic hum, signalled Rikku's arrival.

She barrelled through the door, clinging the sphere to her chest and Kiki, in raven form, flying not far behind her.

"Go, go, go, go!" She yelled to the room.

As if broken out of a trance. My crew jumped into action. Everyone jumped to their posts and started controlling the ship. I jumped up, and started barking orders at them. "_Move faster!" _or "_Pick up that pace!" "We don't have all day!"_ Rikku walked over to a seat and flopped down, placing her chin on the table and the sphere in front of her. Her breath was coming out in short bursts and her chest was heaving. To be honest, it looked like she had just ran the Bikanel Dash (a race around Bikanel.)

When I was sure my crew were in top working order, and we were far enough away that the Celsius stood no chance of catching up, I walked over to Rikku and flopped in a chair next to her.

"So..." I began, in a playfull voice. "How'd it go?"

She glared at me, and nodded at the sphere. "I got it. Enough said."

I grinned gleefully. "Can I ask how?"

She winced. Oh, yeah. I hit a soft spot. Rikku mumbled something under her breath.

I leaned closer. "What was that? I couldn't quite hear you."

"Get your ears checked." She muttered. "I got the sphere, by... pantsing Shinra."

I laughed. "You pantsed Shinra? As in, you pulled his pants down."

She nodded miserably. "He dropped the sphere to pull them up, I grabbed it and ran. They were right behind me, when that crew member of yours closed the plank." She sighed.

I burst out laughing. A few crew members turned to me, to make sure I hadn't gone insane. But I didn't care. They'd laugh to if they heard that, and knew Shinra.

Rikku groaned. "Shut up." She whined, pulling Kiki closer to her. "It's not funny! I feel horrible..."

I sighed. I knew it was mean to tease her like that, but I couldn't help it. "I'm sorry. But, look at the bright side." She fixed me with a look that was clearly questioning my sanity. "When we save Blondie, they'll owe us. He will have forgotten all about it by then. See? Bright side!"

She smiled at me. "Thanks."

I grinned. "No prob." Gesturing down the hallway, I continued. "The third door on the right is my room. Third on the left is yours, just come across the hall if you need anything." I smiled, taking in her exhausted form. "No offense, but you look like _ramm_." (hell)

Rikku nodded softly and stood up. She walked towards the door and disappeared down the hallway.

I smiled softly. I'm not sure why, but a part of me was really thankfull Blondie asked for my help.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

One.

Two.

Three.

I counted.

"This must be it, Kiki." I declared, twisting the handle. These doors weren't automatic, for privacy reasons. I glanced behind me. Gippal's room. It was the same as the others. I gulped and turned into my room.

It was pretty basic. Nothing homey, like my room on the Celsius, but it was good enough. The bed was a simple square design, with a pile of blankets and pillows at the end. There was a note on top, but I ignored it for now. A dresser -taller than me- stood against one wall, with a simple table next to it. A wooden chair was placed next to the door. The walls and floors and ceilings were metallic white, and even _looked_ cold. I sighed and grabbed the note.

A small happy face was scribbled in one corner, with the words above it.

_'Sorry, I couldn't get anything better, but all the rooms are the same on this ship. For mutiny purposes. Have a good sleep. And remember, if you need anything, I'm just across the hall._

_-Gippal. _

_P.S. Lock the door by twitsing the handle on your side. (Don't want any Peeping Toms, right?)'_

I grinned. He's always been able to do that. Make me laugh or smile, even when I was upset. I folded the note and put it in my pocket. I walked over to the dresser and pulled the lowest drawer out most of the way, I shoved a sheet in and the pillow case. It wasn't much, but it would serve as Kiki's sleeping bag for now.

Kiki jumped in, quickly getting the idea.

I smiled and crawled into my own bed, after locking the door, of course. I saw how the crew members watched me when I ran in. Pulling the covers up to my chin, I laid back. It might not have been my plush, Celsius bed, but it was perfectly fine for me.

I know it's kinda weird to think. But I'm happy that Tidus brought me with him, and happy he brought Gippal, as well. I mean, we never realized it, but we work well together. I guess we never had the chance to find out, you know? Ah, well. It could wait till morning.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


	7. Ramb Sa

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I watched Rikku carefully, glancing out the window every now and again. Rikku had a slightly nervous, thoughtful expression on her face. She ran her fingers through Kiki's short hair, that wasn't more than a buzz cut, and bit her lip. She glanced past me again, and grew even more nervous.

I sighed and stood up, spinning around. "_Femm oui eteuds kad pylg du fung_?!" I yelled loudly, almost my whole crew spun around hastily. It was like the wave, and almost as amusing. Almost.

By the time I had turned back, Rikku had slumped down, so her chin was at level with the table between us. An annoyed expression flickering across her face.

"I wish they'd stop doing that." She murmured, glanceing past me to make sure they had actually listened to me. "It's _lnaabo_."

"We don't usually have a woman on the ship." I said, as if that explained everything. "This crew is the main one used by the machine faction, they were on a re-con mission not long ago. Haven't seen any female lifeforms in the past three months. I wouldn't be surprised if Kiki looked good to them right now."

Rikku slumped down even farther, pulling Kiki to her chest protectively.

I sighed and leaned back in my seat. "Come on, Rikku. Think!"

She shook her head. "I'm trying! I don't know where he'd hide them! Tidus wasn't like that!" Rikku insisted for the fifth time that day.

"Well, it's going to take a while for the ship's sphere guy to write down what we need to do, and he's not really the brightest bulb in the chandalier." I muttered, watching Rikku intently. "And I understand your concerns, he didn't seem like the kinda guy that would send us on a wild goose chase! But, he would have had to explain it to Yuna if he just gave us a bag full of spheres! That's the one thing he didn't want to do! He must have found one or two and hid them in obvious places, for people who knew what to look for!"

Rikku bit her lip nervously, her eyes darted from her hands to my face and back again so many times, my head hurt just watching her. She shrugged carefully, watching my reaction.

"Tidus isn't..." She broke off, pain flickering across her face. "Wasn't...Tidus wasn't like that..."

I sighed. I had planned to yell at her until she thought of something, or even tease her. But to tease someone who had just lost a cousin-in-law... I couldn't do that to her. My fingers subconsiously rubbed my temples and I closed my eyes.

"Rikku... Everyone's like that." I said slowly, letting my eyes flicker open. "Everyone wants to protect themselves or the ones they love. We can both agree he didn't do this for himself, therefore he must be protecting Yuna. He would have hid them somewhere she wouldn't stumble upon by accident, but somewhere we could find easily. You're right, he wouldn't send us on a wild Chocobo chase. Think! Where would Tidus hide something?"

"I don't think-" Rikku broke off, her eyes became slightly distant.

I waited for a good five minutes before snapping my fingers in front of her face. She jumped slightly, but her eyes focused on me. Rikku set Kiki on the seat beside her and leaned forward, an excited expression on her face.

"The spring." She said simply, tapping her left temple lightly. "If he left anything it'd be at the spring."

I waited for an explanation, but none came. Her smile slowly faded, as if she couldn't understand why I wasn't celebrating with her. She blinked a few times and flopped back pouting. She glared at me until I sighed.

"What spring, Rikku?" I finally asked.

"The spring!" She repeated. I was about to yell at her for being too repeatative, but she beat me to it. "The spring in Macalania woods! The one Tidus and Yunie had their first kiss! They both told me about it, and how much they love that place and each other and they're gonna visit it on their hunny moon! _That _Spring!"

I blinked. "Why would he hide a sphere there?"

Rikku threw her arms up in exasperation. "Why? I'll tell you why! That's one of the happiest places in his and Yunie's life together! Why _not_?" She slumped back again, her former pout replaced by an angry glare.

I sighed and shook my head slowly, watching her in my peripheral vision. A crew member came strolling over to us, he stood next to our table in a weak salute. I told them a thousand times not to do that, but they never listened. I glanced at him. He was a fairly light built man, newly recruited, with short Al Bhed blond hair and matching swirly green eyes... which were focused on Rikku. She was watching him nervously, as if he'd jump her then and there.

I fixed him with a glare. "Can I help you?" I demanded, leaning back in my seat. Rikku let out a breath of air when he looked away, but still kept her glare fixed on me.

"We need to coordinate our next location, Sir." He said hastily, his eyes flickering to Rikku and back. "Where... _are _we headed, sir?"

I paused, debating our options. My eyes finally settling on Rikku. I grinned.

"Macalania Woods." Shock flickered past her face. "We'll set up ship, and me and Rikku will take it from there. We'll need you later so stay close and within Commsphere distance."

Rikku turned and grinned at me after he left. She ran her fingers along Kiki's fur, a confidant smile had spread across her face.

Some part of me wanted to argue that I was only agreeing with her because it was the only clue we had to go on. The fact that it seemed like something Tidus would do, that Rikku knew him better than me, that it probably fit better than anything else that had happened so far had nothing to do with it. But I didn't. I just leaned back and watched her play with the small monkey. At that moment, I could see why we went out in the first place. We complimented each other perfectly. Rikku's bouncy personality could pull anyone out of their anger, even me. She kept me sane all those years ago...and was doing the same now. Not that I'd admit it to her. She'd have a field day.

And I couldn't help but thank Tidus he asked me to come to.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I paced along the side of the water. As much as I had wanted to dive under with her, we both knew I would just hold her up. She had more practise staying under water than I did, with her Machina recovery and whatever. I had been in the Crimson Squad and they hadn't exactly had Bliztball one-oh-one there.

Rikku had dove under a few minutes ago, and I had barely seen her since. Every so often, a yellow-ish shadow would flash in my line of vision, but it was gone before I could be sure. Kiki's chattering echoed behind me, but I ignored it. Rikku had put me on baby-sitting duty, but I wasn't going to chase the piece of Machina through the forest. Kiki was actually staying near the water, so that was a bonus.

A groan escaped my throat and I flopped down next to a twisted tree stump. I fingered the barrell of my gun and glared around the clearing. It didn't appear that any fiends would be bothering us anytime soon, but I hadn't checked the entirety of the spring. There could be a water fiend hiding behind a rock or in a crevas. Rikku wouldn't see it until too late, and I wouldn't even notice. It might even be a Splasher. Like the last time she went into a pool alone.

_I was walking casually along the sands of Bikanel. A towel and a bag full of my cloths thrown over my shoulder . I had a simple pair of swimming trunks on and a pair of goggles around my neck. A soft whistle was coming from between my lips. I was one of the only people who knew about the Oasis and extremely happy about that. Unfortuneatly, a loud yell caught my attention._

_"Rikku, tuh'd ku du vyn uod!" The voice was familiar to me, I couldn't tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing, though. Brother's voice. (Rikku, don't go to far out.)_

_That must have meant he brought his younger sister to the Oasis. Cid must have told them about it, or they tricked someone into telling. They were sneaky that way._

_I could almost hear Rikku's eyes roll at Brother's over-protectiveness. Another chuckle caught my ear as well. Buddy laughing at Brother._

_"Oui yna du bnudaldeja uv ran, Brother." Buddy muttered, a laughing tone to his voice. (You are to protective of her, Brother.)_

_Brother sighed. "Oayr famm, ajan cehla Sudran teat... E tuh'd fyhhy muuca so cecdan, duu." (Yeah well, ever since Mother died...I don't wanna loose my sister, too.)_

_I let myself slip onto the ground and crawled over the last sand dune. Brother and Buddy had set up three lawn chairs and were stretched out in two of them. Both were wearing swimming trunks and had towels laid over the backs of their chairs. An extra one was set up in the empty chair with a pair of Al Bhed goggles, Rikku's stuff. _

_A loud set of splashes caught my ear. My gaze darted towards the Oasis. Rikku had darted out of the water and was pumping her small arms and legs as fast as she could. A Splasher had jumped out of the water after her. _

_"Brother!" Rikku spluttered. I was closer to her and it was obvious Brother and Buddy hadn't heard her. She pulled her face out of the water a bit farther than last time. "Brother! Ramb sa!" (Help me!)_

_I could hear the hysterics creeping into her voice and see the panic in her face._

_"Buddy, ku veht so vydran!" Brother yelled, a magic circle forming under his feet. (Buddy, go find my father!)_

_Buddy raced past my hiding place, oblivious to me. I could see the fear in his face but ignored it. I watched the magic circle before realization hit me like a hammer. _

_Thunder. A thunder spell. Rikku was in the water. _

_No!_

_I shoved myself away from the sand and rushed towards Brother._

_"Brother, cdub!" I yelled, running forward and pumping my legs as hard as I could. (Brother, stop!)_

_A loud scream made me freeze immediately. My gaze darted to the Oasis again. _

_Rikku had slowed considerably, the Splasher had clamped down on her leg and was trying to pull her back under water. _

_My momentary hesitation might have cost Rikku her life... Brother's spell was finished._

_"Thundara!" Brother screamed._

_I watched in horror as the electricity spread from the disappearing fiend and through Rikku's leg. She screamed _"Hey, Gippal!"

I snapped out of my reveree and glanced up. Rikku was pulling herself out of the water, dripping wet. A huge grin on her face and a sphere in her hand.

I shook my head slowly. That was ages ago. Not now. And that wasn't going to happen again. Rikku was fine. Better than fine. She found the sphere that might lead to a way to get her close friend back.

Rikku danced over to me, a huge grin on her face. "Told ya! I told ya, didn't I?" She yelled happily, bouncing in excitiment. She held the sphere out to me and tilted her head to the side. "Geez, Gippal. Never pictured you as a slacker." Kiki bounded over and jumped on her shoulder.

The corners of my mouth turned down as I took the sphere from her. "What are you talking about, Cid's girl?" I used the tree stump to pull myself up so I didn't have to look up at her.

"You were asleep, slacker." She said happily, grinning cheerfully. "Did you know you talk in your sleep...? What were you dreaming about...?"

I shook my head again and turned towards the path leading to my ship. "You're out of your mind, Rikku." I said simply, glanceing to my left when she fell into step with me.

"Nuh-uh! You were totally sleeping! You were saying stuff like 'No' and 'stop' and 'get out of the water.'" She paused grinning like an idiot. "At first I thought you were talking to me, cause I had said I needed to go down again and you said no. I came out of the water to get a better dive in, and you said stop." She laughed, pulling Kiki into her arms. "Then when I came up with the sphere you were yelling. 'Get out of the water!'" She yelled, faking my voice.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure _you_ weren't sleeping?"

"I was under water!" She cried defensively. A pout spread across her face, and she ran ahead of me.

My gaze sub-consiously watched her leg. The scar wasn't noticeable, thanks to numerous Al Bhed potions, but in the light of Macalania Woods glinting off the water.... the scar almost stood out against her skin....Almost.

I shook my head for what felt like the thousandth time that day and ran after her.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I leaned back in my seat and watched the ship's sphere guy work. His hand was a blur, he was writing so fast. Rikku was across from him, watching in wonder...probably comparing him to Shinra. Her hair was still slightly damp from her swim, but she had changed cloths by the time I got on the ship. I turned to her and tilted my head to the side, like she does whenever she's confused.

"So, Rikku..." I waited until I had her attention before continueing. "Back at Guadosalam you seemed to hate the idea of going anywhere near the Thunder Plains... A little birdy told me that you got over that fear."

The sphere guy glanced up, but at Rikku's expression his gaze darted back to the spheres in front of him.

"Is the little birdy's name Yuna or Paine?" Rikku asked quietly. She folded her hands in her lap and stared at them, completely ignoring me.

"Yuna was explaining to Tidus that you had camped out there for a week and you aren't scared of thunder anymore." I explained, watching her reaction. She seemed...different...than usual. I couldn't tell if she was annoyed at me for asking, Yuna for talking about it, or scared about the topic.

"I..." She began, a slight quiver to her voice. "I wasn't...entirely...truthfull....with Yunie and Paine...about my 'camping trip.'"

I raised an eyebrow, a frown pulling the corners of my mouth down. "Which translates to...?"

She opened her mouth and closed it a few times, before speaking. "Brother and Buddy brought me to Guadosalam on the Celsius a year before we met up with Paine....give or take a month or two...Brother was....more than desperate to help me get over my fear of thunder... I managed to stay a day and had a major panic attack and they had to come pick me up. I can...handle walking through the Plains if I get out as soon as possible. I didn't know if you'd wanna stop and check around the pillars for spheres, so I...I..."

I sighed and gave her shoulder a soft squeeze. "It's okay, Rikku..."

_"Brother!"_

"This isn't your fault, Rikku. I know how hard it can be to forget your fears...to get over them..." I murmured.

_"Brother, ramb sa!"_

I don't know what made me do it. I don't really care, what made me do it, really. But I did.

I moved closer to Rikku, wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into my lap. She didn't pull away, surprisingly, but pulled closer. She placed her face on my chest. I could feel the sob shake her tiny frame, but I didn't hear it.

I placed my hand on the back of her head, and rubbed her back with the other.

_"Ramb sa!"_

"It'll be okay, Rikku...It'll be okay..."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


	8. Summoner's Blood

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_"As stated in my first sphere, I must be dead. The steps are clear, as you have probably heard, and the answer simple. My killer needs to be dead for my ressurection and one of Summoner blood needs to be present for the process. As much as I would like to have another chance at becoming Sin, it is too late for that, and I will stay with the power I had when I was defeated. The man who defeated me is the first step." _Maester Seymour went on, staring blankly at them as if he knew they were there. _"The High Summoner's boyfriend, Tidus is his name, needs to be dead. The killing process does not matter. All that needs to be completed is his death and his weapon needs to be obtained. When you have killed the target, you must bring the blade to the alter and wait until you have one of Summoner's blood. I will describe the steps to find one of Summoner's blood in my next sphere. We do not want someone to warn the next target."_

The sphere blinked out.

We stared at the small blank object for a few minutes before Gippal spoke up.

"So... someone used that fiend to complete the first step?" He asked quietly, setting the small sphere in the drawer of his desk. He glanced at me. "But why...?"

"We couldn't find his sword after the attack...." I paused, staring at the desk's handle as if willing the sphere to come out and explain itself to me. "...Does 'Summoner Blood' mean he's gonna go after Yunie?"

He hesitaed.

Me and Gippal hadn't exactly talked much since the Spring and the....hug... After a few minutes in his arms, Gippal nudged me and told me I should get some rest. He escorted me to my room and waited until I had evened my breathing, before leaving. I don't know what the big deal was, though. But I seemed to be really nervous around him, and vice versa. Pops and Brother have hugged me before, mostly after _Sudran_ died. I didn't understand what the problem was, but it made them feel better. As if they needed to know I was still there, like if they let go I would disappear... like she did.

I don't think Gippal was hugging me because he thought I was gonna disappear. It was kinda like he was hugging me so _I_ would know _he_ wasn't gonna disappear.... I think... I had never been as good as Yuna or Paine at reading people. I could never tell if people were annoyed at me for stealing their stuff or 'on-a-killing-spree' angry.

I tilted my head to the side and watched him carefully, trying to figure out how they did it. He didn't seem particularily angry or sad or annoyed... just a bit confused...maybe.

"I don't know, Rikku." Gippal said quietly, turning to me. He made eye contact with me for the first time in forever. "There are other Summoners out there. Any of the others would be easier to get at than the High Summoner herself. Yuna has all her former Guardians, minus you and Sir Auron. Paine and the Gullwings are an added bonus."

He shrugged non-chalantly and grinned at me.

"See? I'm sure they're not gonna go after your cousin, Rikku." Gippal leaned back, and clasped his hands behind his head, his posture was beaming confidance. "You worry too much, Cid's girl."

"So... he - or she, whoever they are - killed Tidus with a fiend, took his weapon and is now after Dona or Isaaru?" I asked, copying him and leaning back. I tugged on my lucky scarf gently and looked back at him. "So... that means that Dona and Isaaru's Guardians will be in danger, too, right?"

He raised an eyebrow at that and the corners of his mouth pulled down. "How do you figure?"

"Well, the chances of Dona listening to anyone is very, very slim. She's kinda... similar to Paine in that manner. So they'd need to have a... advantage, I guess. They might use Barthello to get to Dona. Or use Maroda and Pacce to get to Isaaru....or am I reading too much into this?"

Gippal shook his head softly and grinned at me. "Well, Cid's girl, normally I'd laugh at you for it. But I think we have a right to be paranoid about what's going on, don't you?"

I smiled at him and pushed myself off his bed. "We'll see, Gippal." I stood up and walked towards the door. Hesitating at his door, "And...my name's Rikku."

He laughed as I closed the door. I barely heard his shouted reply. "Whatever you say, _Cid's Girl_!"

"Stupid jerk." I muttered under my breath as I continued down the hall.

I didn't really have a destination in mind, but I needed to get away from him. If I didn't I'd kill myself...or him... I wasn't an expert on the subject, but I had a feeling that a murder of the ship's captain might put the 'mission' back a while.

A few crew members were walking around the main deck, they turned to me when I entered the room. A part of me would like to run to Bikanel and grab the pepper spray under my pillow that Paine gave me and use it on each and everyone of them. Pervs. Another part wanted to run to Besaid and into my friends arms, so they could just tell me everything was just a giant dream and I wasn't actually on Gippal's ship with a boat-load of perverts. The last part, the one barely in control, was willing to do anything to get Tidus back. Even stay on said ship.

I sighed and glared at a younger looking crew member. He had short-cut blond hair and swirly green eyes. His outfit was the same outfit everyone wore. I wasn't sure if Gippal made them wear the uniforms or they did it on principal alone, but I was getting majorly annoyed with any color that was shaded gray.

I flopped down on the closest empty chair and tried to ignore the looks they were sending me. Within seconds two things happened. Kiki jumped from seemingly out of nowhere, into my arms and the short-haired Al Bhed jumped into the seat across from me.

"Hey!" He said excitedly.

I smiled and held up my hand in greeting. "Hi." I responded.

"Your Cid's daughter, right?" He asked. I now understood why Paine got so annoyed whenever I was excited. He was bouncing in his seat, much like I do when I have sugar.

I hesitated, an surge of anger sudden charged inside me. Anger at Gippal for using my much hated nickname around his crew.

"Most people introduce themselves before asking for another person's name, you know?" I paused, thoughtfully. "And, I usually go by Rikku."

"Sorry, sorry." He said, waving his hand airily and grinning. "My name's Mnhaltaor. Mnhal, for short."

"Well, Mnhal. My name's Rikku. Pleasure to meet you." I grinned, setting Kiki on my shoulder so I could lean forward and shake hands with him. "And, just as a note, if you _ever_ call me a name with my father's name in it, I will have to kill you."

He tilted his head to the side and gulped nervously. "Like how Gippal always calls you 'Cid's girl?'"

I nodded, smiled, and patted him on the head. "I knew you looked smart." He gulped again as I leaned back, grinning. "So...what can I do for you on this less than fine, cloudy day, Mnhal?"

"Um..." He said nervously, watching as I pulled Kiki off my shoulder and pet the small monkey gently. "I was just....making sure your fully accomidated and are having a pleasant journey. You seemed pretty...broken up, yesterday. I couldn't help but feel worried about you."

I frowned slightly, trying to remember if there had been anyone else in the room beside me and Gippal. I couldn't remember anyone but me, Gippal and; "Oh, hey! You're that sphere guy!" I exclaimed, remembering the nerous looking sphere guy that had skills nowhere near as advanced as Shinra. I laughed after that. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was kinda outta it at the time and had major oxygen deprivation, don't remember much"

He let out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, I get it. But, you're feeling better now, right? Is there anything I could get you? Food? Water?"

I shook my head and grinned at him. "Nah, I'm fine. Everyone seems to take really good care of me here." I glanced around at the ship's technology. "It's alot bigger than the Celsius. Kinda intimidating, you know?"

He laughed. "Yeah. See, most of the Machine Faction are Al Bhed and we all got together and made a ship. Most advanced Machina you could find.... except of course what your father has... I heard you made a transforming Machina when you were seven."

"Well... too be honest it wasn't exactly me." I giggled and pulled Kiki closer to my chest. "It was mainly Brothers idea, and Buddy's design. Gippal helped a bit with the supplies and I just helped build it a little. _Vydran_ and Brother didn't really like me going anywhere near Machina until I was about...." I frowned and closed my eyes, trying to remember my age at the time. "Ten or eleven... give or take a month or two."

"Oh, yeah?" Mnhal asked. He seemed fairly excited to hear about my life story and I was still pretty steamed about Gippal and 'Cid's Girl,' so I was pretty eager to tell. So I did.

I told him about how Brother and Pops were amazingly over-protective after my _Sudran_ died, how Brother almost killed me in the Oasis, how I helped Yunie save the world twice. I gave little details about the fights and didn't mention the fact that Yunie and I were weren't aloud to speak about it, in case someone wanted to use something (in other words; me or Brother) against the High Summoner. I also left out all the stuff about Tidus' death and our 'mission.'

Mnhal explained how he was raised away from Bikanel for most of his life, his mother being an Al Bhed translator and his step-father a normal Spiran. His father died when he was six and his mother took him immediately out of Bikanel. She wanted to keep him away from painful memories, but the only memory he had of his father was him showing Mnhal how to take apart a piece of Machina.

"It's weird..." He told me, staring at his hands. "I mean... we don't really know why but we're able to take apart and put together scrap pieces of Machina when we're _that_ young. And yet, even after given lesson after lesson, normal Spiran's can't generally grasp the concept...weird..."

I nodded happily and grinned. "No kidding!" I exclaimed, leaning forward. "I can't even count how many times I've tried to teach my friends how to make Machina, but they just can't do it. Buddy says it's cause of our eyes and whatever. 'Each turn of our swirly green eyes leads us to new mysteries of the Machina world.'" I grinned, copying Buddy's voice.

Mnhal laughed with me.

A voice cleared behind me, we both turned. A fairly tall and tan Al Bhed was standing there nervously, watching our conversation.

"Um... Lady Rikku, Gippal is looking for you. He said you weren't in your room and he has a question for you." The man stated.

I frowned slightly and nodded. At least I had gotten over my anger at Gippal...lucky for him.

The path to Gippal's room was uneventfull, Mnhal walked me to the door, waved a goodbye to me and continued towards the sphere room.

I had entertained the thought of knocking first, but I didn't. I just twisted the knob and stepped in.

Gippal was stretched out on his bed, using his pillows to prop his head up. His eyes narrowed when I came into sight.

"You know, Rikku. Most people do this little thing call _knocking_." He growled, glaring at me angrily.

I frowned. "Did I do something wrong?" I asked confusedly, watching his reaction. "Cause you know I don't like being called Cid's girl. You just do it to annoy me, and we both know it. If that offended you, I-"

"It has nothing to do with that, Rikku." Gippal snapped. I could see the anger in his face. "The sphere that broke, how long will it take your _friend_ to finish the instructions?"

Realization slowly dawned on me, as a smile spread across my face.

His eyes narrowed. "What are you grinning about-?" I could see he had to force himself not to call me 'Cid's girl' again.

"You're jealous." I said, trying not too laugh. It didn't work and I let out a giggle. His expression darkened considerably. "You're jealous cause I had a nice conversation with one of your crew."

"Rikku." He said slowly, as he pulled himself up. A dangerous expression had spread across his face. "We're here to find a way to bring your dead friend. The chances of us succeding are slim, we don't have time to wait for you to finish flirting."

I froze. I could feel my face ice over, and by his expression, I knew it resembled Paine's 'angry face.' "_You're_ waiting for _me_ to 'finish flirting?'" I asked, trying to copy Paine's tone, as well. I couldn't stop the quiver from entering my voice. I couldn't force the anger from spreading to my voice. "You don't get it, _do you_?! I watched one of my best friends die! And now I'm on a wild Chocobo chase to find a way to _bring him back_? I've been having a major panic attack this entire time! I'm one of those people that need to talk about their problems to feel better! I can't talk to my friends about cause I don't want them getting hurt, I can't talk to Brother or Pops! I _certainly _can't talk to you about it!"

He tried to interupt, but I held up my hand. "No! It's my time to talk and for you to listen! I'm...I'm not even eighteen, yet. And I've fought Vegnagun. I've fought Sin. And now I'm trying to bring back the dead, while trying to stop a dead, evil Maester from kidnapping or killing Summoners! It's not fair, Gippal! My life has totally sucked up until this point, and when someone, just one person, finally lets me _talk_ about it all, you call it _flirting_?! You have no right! You, who has had so many girlfriends you probably can't even remember them all, call _me_ a flirt?!"

My breath was coming out in short gasps, all my former anger suddenly coming rushing back full force. I could feel my chest heaving and it felt like the room's temperature had risen a thousand degrees.

Gippal's jaw tightened. "Three." He said quietly, his eyes not moving from mine.

My eyes narrowed. "Three what?"

"Girlfriends." He snapped, pushing himself off the bed. "Ohyos, Ihges and you"

I stared at him. For some reason it seemed as if he as shaking, but I couldn't tell. The room was moving too fast to tell. When it occured to me that it was strange that the room was spinning, a wave of nausea washed over me. I grabbed onto the closest wall and closed my eyes until it passed.

I distantly heard Gippal. He was saying something about a doctor, I think I caught the word fever in there, but I couldn't be sure. He placed his hand on my forehead and his other hand on my back, to support me.

I forced my eyes open and stared at him. Everything seemed blurry and out of focus.

"Are you alright, Rikku?" He asked immediately.

I opened my mouth to try and answer the question. I really did. But the words wouldn't connect. I couldn't think of a way to tell him I was fine dispite the burning temperature that would make Bikanel jealous, and my spinning surroundings. I couldn't find the words for an apology of the way I yelled at him, of how I took all my angers out on him. My mouth opened and closed a few seconds before my brain finally made the connection.

"I'm....sorry." Was all I managed to get out before the ground rushed to meet me...

"Rikku!"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I was distantly aware of voices surrounding me. One or two seemed familiar, but for the rest I was drawing blanks. One of the familiar voices seemed to be yelling at one of the strangers, I could barely make out the words but from the little I _could_ understand, they were speaking Al Bhed.

The familiar voice was the first to speak....well, shout, actually. "_Yna oui gettehk sa?! Cra'c tuha dred y semmeuh desac pavuna! Fro ec cra celg huf?!" _(Are you kidding me?! She's done this a million times before! Why is she sick now?!)

One of the words stuck in my mind. It took my brain a while to realize the importance of it, but it clicked. _Celg_. Sick. Someone, a woman from the sounds of it, was sick. Sick enough to make the familiar voice mad. _Very _mad. I'm not sure what made me think of it, but a part of my brain, a very small part, kept hinting that the sick person...was me. I mentally went through the last few things I could remember.

Watched the sphere, check. Thought about the sphere, check. I talked with Mnhal, check. Went back to Gippal's room, check. Argued with Gippal, check. Fell dow...._Ur, lnyb._ (Oh, crap)

Okay. So _I'm_ probably the sick person their talking about. Great, sounds like fun. But how did I get sick. None of the people of this ship look particularily sick to me, and even if they did I've only been around Mnhal and Gippal. Mnhal didn't seem sick at all, and even if he _was_ I was only around him for an hour, at most! From what I remember of Gippal, from our childhood, he's never been sick a day in his life, not so much as a stuffy nose! My friends didn't seem sick to me when we left Besaid. But all I remember from then was pulling Shinra's pants down and running like _ramm._ I might have caught something from being near Mt. Gagazet, but I would have showed symptoms earlier, you know? This cannot be happening! (Hell)

"_Dra dasbanydina fyc suna dryh lremmo dutyo."_ The strangers voice argued. It occured to me that he must have been the ship's doctor. Unless Gippal decided to take me into town... _"Cra fych'd faynehk silr frah cra fahd ehdu dra cbnehk._" (The temperature was less than chilly today. She wasn't wearing much when she went into the spring.)

The familiar voice sighed. It didn't take me long to realize that it was Gippal's voice, now that my mind was clear. "You mean, she caught a cold because she went for a swim in the freezing water?"

I could almost hear the doctor nod. "Yes, sir. It shouldn't last long, though. I already gave her some medicine to regain her health fasther than usual. I wouldn't be surprised if she woke up soon." The relief in the doctor's voice was apparant, they had obviously seen Gippal angry before and didn't want to see it again, you know?

Gippal sighed and something, probably a chair, near the head of the bed creaked.

To be honest, I was getting nervous. Gippal had never been one to panic. Even after he found me half-drowned in the Oasis, carried me back Home with a screaming apologetic Brother, and had to face my father at his worst, he never panicked. He just yelled at Brother to shut up and told me that I was gonna be okay. He never stood down when my father yelled at him for something, even when older men around him cowered. He didn't flinch when the Crusadors told him he couldn't join because he was Al Bhed. He didn't even seem that different after the Crimson Squad incident. Gippal was basically the image of level-headed, as annoying as he could get. But, when he was yelling at the doctor, I could hear the panic in his voice. I didn't know if it was because he was afraid of what Pops and Brother were gonna do to him, or because he thought I was gonna die.

And to be honest, I didn't particularily care.

But I took it upon myself to make him feel better, whatever the reason. Yuna said I did that alot. Whenever my friends or those close to me were upset or mad about something, I'd do something to make them feel better. And I usually got it dead on. Sometimes _I'd_ feel worse about myself because getting Paine 'back to normal' usually consisted of me annoying her and her yelling at me for it. But she'd be normal - or as normal as Paine could be - in the end.

So, because of all those reasons, I forced my mouth open. The words were barely starting to form in my head, but I had an idea.

"What were you saying about the broken sphere?"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


	9. Unfortuneately

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

'What were you saying about the broken sphere?'

Sounds simple, right? Well, it's not.

I wasn't sure how long Rikku had been listening and - from what she told me later - I didn't want to. I didn't really care. All I know is that I was happy about hearing her voice.

From what I could gather, Rikku had only woken up when the doctor explained _why_ she was sick and his reassurance that she would break through. She hadn't, however, heard his diagnosis and couldn't figure out why I was so upset about it.

He told me that she must have caught something, I first thought he meant a cold. But he told me it wasn't a cold. And the chances of anyone surviving, let alone waking up from it, were very slim. A water fiend, a very rare one, lived in isolated places. The spring, for instance. It was very territorial, but non-confrontational. Translation; It hated it when anything else came into it's domain, and hated it even more when it was forced to fight. So, these fiends had a stinger on them. The stinger was filled with a poisen that could kill almost anything, mostly other fiends. It worked like a bumble bee that way. It would sting it's 'enemy' and die. Just like that. No explaination. The doctor said the reason they were mostly extinct was because everything was a threat to them. Any abnormality in their domain was an enemy to them. A tiny leaf falling through the water would be stung in seconds. So, as most water bodies in Spira were filled with abnormailties (ships, swimmers, blizters, leaves...) most of the fiends were dead.

That's why it took him a few hours to find Rikku's diagnosis. He couldn't believe his findings, and checked and re-checked the data a dozen times. He came into the room and explained the status of the fiend, it's profile, how it was first discovered, basically a bunch of useless crap I'll never need to know again. Just to delay the inevitable. He told me that the sting was barely noticeable, and might be passed over as a cramp. He said there was no known cure and the patient, Rikku, would have to fight the poisen on her own. She would have to fight the curse and wake up on her own.

Yeah. I yelled at him. Alot.

I had promised Tidus I would look after and protect her. I had promised Paine and Yuna that I would look out for her and not put her in harm's way. I had promised Cid and Brother numerous times that I wouldn't do anything to hurt or put her in danger. Every Al Bhed that saw me and Rikku on a date sent me warning glares or glances that I would just wave off. All for one simple reason.

Rikku was Cid's girl. Cid's daughter. Cid's angel. Cid's little girl. Cid, freakin leader of the Al Bhed's, little girl: Rikku.

Ever since I was young enough to understand what a father was and who Cid was, I knew Rikku would never be harmed. Cid was the most over-protective, angry, agressive, confidant, bravest, SOB that ever walked Spira. I heard the news when his wife died and saw how much it changed his family. Brother seemed to walk closed to Rikku and keep an extra close eye on her, as if he let her out of his sight she's disapper. Cid, especially, changed. He was always agressive, yeah. But he changed. When he used to let Rikku and Brother run around Home, and Bikanel in general, he kept them at his side after that. He always took his kids to the Machina factory and let them play around with the parts and tools, he didn't let them near the actual machina until Brother yelled at him for it.

I didn't think that anything would happen to her _because _of that. Cid and Brother weren't going to let Rikku out of their sight for anything, they didn't want to loose her as well. But, everything seemed to changed in_spite_ of that. Brother took Rikku to the Oasis against their father's orders and Rikku got hurt. Rikku went to find Yuna and helped with her pilgrimage, even after Brother yelled at her. She fought Vegnagun after a major argument with her father, and that was probably the only reason the Gullwings got started.

I broke _so_ many promises that day, I didn't even want to start counting them. All because I couldn't see what was right in front of me. Rikku wasn't a little girl anymore. Sure, she was still Cid's only daughter and probaly his favourite child. But she wasn't _his_. She belonged to him as much as the Celsius belonged to leBlanc. Not at all. He couldn't control what she did, in fact it seemed she did the things she did just to annoy Cid. Reverse Psychology.

I made all those promises. I said I wouldn't let her get hurt, because I knew Cid wouldn't allow it. Cid wouldn't allow it, so Rikku did everything humanly possible to prove him wrong. I _broke_ all those promises because of the same reason.

I had actually started to go through the promises I made, mentally, and thought of somewhat decent apologies to go with them. Apologies to Yuna, Paine, the Gullwings, Yuna's Gardians, and to Cid. I wasn't looking forward to it.

To say her voice was as good as hearing angels sing was an understatement. It was as if Yevon had shined down upon me and asked me about a broken sphere. I actually considered that for a moment, considering how unlikely it was for Rikku to be alive.

"What were you saying about the broken sphere?" She had asked. Her swirly green eyes were shining weakly at me. Her blond hair was slick against her forehead with sweat and she had lost alot of color. But she was alive. She was awake and alive!

I couldn't speak.

She took that as a cue to continue. "I've been sick before, Gippal. Calm down." She croaked out.

That's when it first occured to me that her voice sounded scratchy. So I grabbed the glass full of ice chips next to her bed and held up a spoon full to her. I finally understood the phrase 'dry as the Bikanel dessert.' I had always thought that some Non-Al Bhed must have made that saying. Because none of us Al Bhed would call Bikanel dry. No one. I'd dare you to find an Al Bhed who would. We knew that sand was similiar to dirt. It would be dry _or _hot, depending on the weather, of course.

Rikku laughed quietly and shook her head. "I just went swimming in that stuff, Gippal. I don't need anymore." She coughed weakly and closed her eyes. "It's really not that big a deal."

"It is so, Rikku!" I insisted, setting the glass back on the table but within arm's reach. "You got poisened by a fiend and might have died! How is that not a big deal?!"

Her eyes narrowed every so slightly. "What's the fiend called?" She murmured, almost as a reflex. "Did you see it?"

"Huh? Well, I don't remember. The Doc said it's name but I was too busy yelling to really hear him. And I was sleeping, remember?" I shot back, trying to keep myself from yelling. Now I knew why Cid did it so much, she could get annoying but her _and_ Brother... I'm surprised he hasn't had a heart attack yet. A small part of me actually considered asking Rikku if he had, but I pushed it away.

"I don't remember getting poisened..." She stated airily, cracking her eyes open a tad. "Are you sure that's what he said? Cause I think I'd notice..."

"Yeah! He said most people don't even know it...before they die..." My voice trailed off dimly, watching her open her eyes fully and sit up slowly.

"I think I'll take the water now...." Her expression fell when she saw the ice chips and spoon, she turned and fixed me with a glare. "I'm not poisened, Gippal. I'm not dying. I wasn't going to die. I'm fine. And I can drink water all by myself. I don't need your doctor to tell me what my body can or cannot handle!"

Her expression slowly turned from angry to a pout, I actually thought she might stick her toungue out at me. Like she did when we were younger, and not long ago if I remember correctly... but she didn't.

A sigh escaped my throat as I turned to her. "Rikku..." I said slowly, trying to use a tone she might listen to. "You might not have realized it, but you were poisened by a very territorial fiend and almost died. You shouldn't over-exert yourself, so just relax for a while, okay? I'll handle Mnhal for a while, and will show you when he's done with the spheres. If we don't have all of them, we'll start looking when the poisen's out of your system."

Rikku raised an eyebrow at that. "I wasn't poisened, Gippal." She said it as if I should know better than to think of that. As if I should have known what she said next. "Before I left Besaid Yuna told me that she knew I had gotten into something big. She didn't know how she knew it, but she said she knew I was gonna need all the help I could get. She cast a spell on me. I think it was called Esunaga? But it prevents poisen. She's kinda strange like that... no one's used Dispel yet, so I guess it's still in effect... I can use Scan on myself, if you want..."

I stared at her is disbelief. How had she forgotten to tell me that? I had been almost completely honest about most things, and she goes a forgets that important little tidbit. I didn't even know if Esunaga was a real spell! But then again, I didn't even think Thundara was a real spell until I saw Rikku get zapped by it.

"So... you had a cold?" I asked quietly, mentally going over my options.

Rikku stared at me for a few seconds. "um... yeah... Are you okay, Gippal?" A grin spread across her face. "Do you want some ice chips?"

I let out a growl, grabbed her glass and stood up. "I'll get you some water." I ground out, letting some of my anger spill out.

"Hey, come on!" She called when I started walking. "That's not fair! I was just kidding! You don't have to get all angry at me for a simple joke, Gippal!"

I paused, in the door and turned back to her. I couldn't yell at her again, or even hold onto a shred of anger with her. Not after what just happened, and probably not for a while. So, I smiled and held the glass up. "I'm just getting you some water. I'm not mad, Rikku."

She pouted again and was probably coming up with a retort, but I left before hearing it. The ships water supply wasn't too far from the medical bay, we had a simple machine there that was connected to numerous water purifying pipes. No one on this ship could complain about horrible treatment. Except maybe my yelling....but that was a given. I grabbed a large glass jug from beside the water machine and quickly filled it. I didn't want to make Rikku wait for me to return. Of course, I didn't take into account the yelling, screaming Al Bhed. Probably because I didn't know he was going to be there. Mnhal came barreling around the corner and straight into me, the water jug was still half on the machine so it just wobbled, but I fixed him with an angry expression anyway. His happy grin threw me off.

"What do you think your-" I began, Mnhal quickly cut me off.

"I fixed it, sir! I fixed the sphere! It's all done, you can watch it now!" He yelled happily, shoving the small sphere into my hand. Mnhal grinned again and ran back towards Rikku's room, he stopped in front of her door and gestured for me to hurry up.

My gaze was locked on the tiny sphere. Who would have guess such a insignificant object could hold so much value? I grabbed the water jug and ran back to Rikku's room, throwing the jug on her table and pulling a chair next to her bed. Rikku was sending me a nervous expression, Mnhal closed the door behind me.

"What happened to you on the way to get water?" She asked suspiciously, looking at the water jug nervously. "Did someone spike the water supply or something?"

I grinned and held the sphere between us.

Her eyes slowly focused on the small object, confusion stayed on her face for a full minute before realization dawned on her. Of course, I didn't rush her. She had almost died and this shock would put alot of pressure on her.

"Is...." She started quietly, carefully pulling the sphere into her arms. Kiki jumped from on top of a nearby dresser and onto her shoulder, the shiny sphere obviously attracting it. "Is this....? Did he finish....?"

I laughed, a full-on, from the gut, laugh. "Do you wanna watch it, or just make half-sentences all day, Rikku?" I pulled the sphere from her and turned it on.

The glass surface flashed to life.

_"If you are watching this sphere...than I must have been sent. Whether at the hands of Lady Yuna, or from other causes... I don't know. But this is an important sphere. It contains instructions for those who follow me, after my death of course. If I am to die you need to..."_ We both flinched, waiting for the wave of static that caused the stupid thing to break in the first place. It didn't come, it just hesitated before continueing, we both relaxed. _"The alter must be prepared. You need to erect a stone dias in the desegnated area, you have probably figured it out by now, follower. Create a metal support over it, a tripod of sorts. It needs to have a metal pole falling into the ground from the middle of the tripod. Chains need to be placed in certain points on the metal bars. I will give you a diagram that explains the construction. I have hidden it under a brick on the walkway to the Farplanes. It is on the second layer. The loose brick is hollow and has the blueprints inside. Materials and such are written on it, as well. I will only have the locations of the other spheres on this sphere, for safety reasons. The next sphere shall be hidden in a small spring, located in Macalania Woods. The third, and last, is hidden in a compartment in my own house. The first, as you probably know, is completely useless and is just a way for me to alert my followers to my plans. It is found near Mt. Gagazet, guarded by a specially created fiend."_ The sphere blinked out, static flashed across the glass surface before turning black.

Rikku and I stared at it in disbelief for a few minutes, before we looked up at each other in unison. She looked terrrified, I'd say she looked paler than before, but she was pretty pale before now, too. From her expression, I probably looked no better.

Rikku opened and closed her mouth a few times before she finally spoke. "Wh....where are we....exactly, Gippal?"

"Um...." I glanced out the window quickly before answering. "A few away from Luca... maybe a bit from Mi'ihen Highroad....why?"

She gulped before answering. "How long will it take to get to Guadosalam...? He said the next sphere is near the Farplanes....we need it....as soon as possible." She said weakly, her eyes drooping slightly.

I sighed and stood up, patting her on the head. "Get some rest, I'll wake you up when we get there, alright?"

At first I thought she was going to argue, but she nodded weakly and slowly leaned back against the pillows. Her voice barely reached me before I left.

"Night, Gippal."

I almost laughed, but stopped myself. It wasn't funny. It wasn't her fault she sounded so pathetic at that moment. But, if anything, it strengthed my resolve to protect her and keep the thousands of promises I made.

"G'night..." I paused, glancing back at her slight form. "Rikku....Goodnight..."

It didn't take me long to reach the cabin and inform the pilot of our new destination. I'm pretty sure he was happy about it, too. We had just been wandering around aimlessly for the last few days - minus the stop at Macalania. The entire crew was ready to stretch their legs and contact their families. Guadosalam was a great place for that. Of course, I'd prefer Djose or Bikanel - they always had more Al Bhed supplies (Al Bhed potions, grenades, and such). But, we had to live with what we could get, right?

I quickly made my way to my room and locked the sphere in my drawer with the other two. It wouldn't be long before there were four...hopefully. A small voice in the back of my head was shouting at me not to go, but it was covered up with the thousands of promises I'd made and cover-ups I'd given....and the new resolve to finally keep them.

Unfortuneately for us....Unfortuneately....

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


	10. Soothing Darkness

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So, it turns out, the sudden deceleration of the ship woke me up and alerted me to our arrival in Guadosalam. Not Gippal. I sat up slowly and rested a hand on my forehead. I still felt warm - whether because of my fever or the numerous blankets I had piled on was a mystery - but it wasn't as bad as when I went to sleep. There was a glass of water on my bedside table. Condensation was still dripping down the side, so Gippal must have sent someone in to check on me....unless he switched the glasses.... But, I shoved those thought aside and grabbed the glass, downing it in a few gulps.

My door creaked open and I glanced up. Gippal stepped inside slowly and froze when he saw me sitting up already. Annoyance flickered across his face.

"Rikku, you shouldn't over-exert yourself. You're still sick." He said, quickly walking to my side and pouring another glass of water for me.

I laughed. "I sat up, Gippal. It's not like I'm gonna run a marathon." I sighed and swung my legs over the side of the bed, hopping down.

Gippal was at my side in an instant and had a grip of my upper arm. I raised an eyebrow at him, in a way I hoped was telling him to back-off. I guess it did, because he took a few steps away from me. Rolling my eyes, I started towards the door. Gippal jumped ahead of me and slipped outside before me.

"We're going to stop at the Farplanes quickly and leave when we have all the supplies we need." He said. His voice was hurried as if he didn't want to stay on the ground any longer than neccesary. He had said we had a right to be paranoid, but this was ridiculous. So, I told him so. "I'm sorry, Rikku." He said after that. "I....I just have a bad feeling about this place..."

"Guadosalam?" I asked in disbelief as we walked through an automatic door and into the main cabin. "Why? I thought I was the one who was supposed to be terrified of thunder, Gippal, you know?"

He shook his head slowly and walked past a group of muttering crew members. "I don't know, Rikku. I'm still kind of jumpy from the other day, I guess. Sorry... I'll try to relax..."

I raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like him to give in so easily, but I could see from the way he was looking around the subject wasn't over. He was just going to be more descrete about it, you know? I sighed before running to catch up with him. He was already half way down the loading ramp, by the time I reached him. It didn't take us long after that to reach the enterance to the Farplanes and it fully hit us just how long the steps to the entrance were. How many bricks were on the second layer alone....this was going to take awhile. And that obviously upset Gippal. He was moody when we started and barely registered it when I would ask him a question.

I crouched on the left side of the brick railing and pressed on the first brick. Nothing. Gippal was doing the same on the left. A few were loose, but wouldn't budge and it crossed my mind that someone could have fixed the loose brick so it would budge anymore. Of course, I didn't bring it up. He'd probably make me go back to the ship then and there, you know? I couldn't risk it.

After a few hours of searching - when we were only half way up the stairs - the hundredth-some brick moved, almost falling out the other side. I stood up and leaned over the bricks. Pulling out my dagger, I pushed the brick from the other side. I guess Gippal noticed the lack of brick-tapping from my side and looked over because, not long after, he grabbed my waist to keep me from falling over and giving me more room to lean forward. It took a few minutes for me to find the right way to push my dagger without falling out of Gippal's grasp, but got it right eventually. Gippal pulled me back when it came out the other side and grabbed it. The brick _was_ hollow. I knew that it was, but it was weird seeing a hollow brick, you know? But, the insides were empty. It was just an empty, hollow brick. We both stared at it for a minute before I spoke up.

"What are the chances of their being more than one hollow bricks?" I asked slowly, glancing up and down the walkway.

Gippal let out a growl and started walking back the way we had come, he gestured for me to follow. "None. No one else would hide something near such a sacred place..." His voice trailed off as we made our way back to the ship.

I paused in the entrance, glanceing towards leBlanc's house. "Hey, Gippal!" I called after him, he turned to look at me, obviously annoyed at my hesitation. "It said the last one was hidden in his house, shouldn't we check?"

He sighed. "Rikku, that house is huge. Do you actually think we would be able to find a secret compartment there, while hiding from leBlanc and her goons?" Gippal asked, barely sparing a glance at the house.

"I dunno, maybe leBlanc or someone found it there. She might have the sphere, you know?" I asked, walking up to him slowly.

"Don't you think she would have told one of you sooner, Rikku? leBlanc's weird, but not stupid. She would give something like that to Yuna without hesitation. And if not, she'd give it to Nooj. And Nooj would have told me and Baralai." He informed me, turning around like he had just settled the topic.

I frowned and jogged up to him. "C'mon, Gippal. It's worth a shot. I mean, leBlanc will understand that I don't want to be found and I don't think she has a Commsphere. So, how could she contact the others without us knowing it? We'd be long gone before they even got here." I argued, placing my hands on my hips and stopping next to the stairs leading to the main plaza and leBlanc's house.

"Rikku, I'm not worried about them coming here, I'm worried about-"

I cut him off with a wave of my hand. "Gippal, what's wrong with you? You're acting really weird. You've never worried this much before, I've never even really seen you panic before. Are you feeling alright?" I couldn't help the laugh at my next question. "Are you sure _you_ weren't poisened by a water fiend?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but another voice broke through his.

"Rikku? What are you doing here?" We both spun around to the new voice. leBlanc was making her way towards us, Ormi and Logos were walking behind her. leBlanc stopped a few feet from them. "I heard from Yuna that you were kidnapped."

That threw me off. "Really?" I asked, thinking back to anything that may have insinuated a kidnapping. "Are you sure? You'd think I would have noticed if I'd been kidnapped, you know? I've just been wandering around with Gippal for a while." I grinned at them.

leBlanc's eyes narrowed. "Yeah...They said _he_ was the one who kidnapped you, actually.... You're sure you're fine, Rikku?" She asked, glancing between me and Gippal. He seemed suddenly tense.

I nodded and smiled. "Course. We found a sphere a while ago with a huge secret of it." Gippal shot me a dangerous look. "It has a bunch of stuff on a rare Machina and we figured the only fair way to divide the search, was to go together. I know I should have told someone else, but there was the chance that another person would find out and we wanted to find it. I couldn't allow some nobody to find a Machina _this_ awesome..." I was lying through my teeth, of course, but how would she know that? And there was always the chance she might tell Yunie or another Gullwing, this would explain our strange behaviour and obsession with the sphere. They might even drop it.

"Yeah." Gippal joined in, obviously getting the idea. "We we kind of hoping to keep the others out of it, as well. Because, well, because Rikku doesn't want to put more pressure on her friends after what happend, and I _really_ want to beat Baralai and Nooj at something." To be honest, I almost started laughing at that. It was so....him, that it was almost perfect, of course a little something from me and it'd be perfect.

"And, you know how my father can get. He'd stop me from going just in spite, I don't want them to worry, but I don't want to have to fight with him about _this_ too." I said, laughing happily.

leBlanc sighed and glanced at the sky. "How about you two come to my house for a while, maybe for some tea? I'm going to need more details when I tell your friends and I'm sure there's more of a story behind this, but I'll settle for giving you tea." She started walking towards her house.

Neither me or Gippal missed the nervous glance Ormi and Logos shared, a glance that said they knew something was up. So, I watched them carefully the entire way to the building. They kept glancing at leBlanc suspiciously or nervously, they sometimes even looked scared. I'm not sure why, but I kept thinking about Shuyin.... strange, you know?

Gippal cleared his throat when we reached the front steps. "Actually, I'm going to have to be a bit late. I have to explain what's going on to my crew and check on the supplies. I'll be back as soon as I can, alright?" He waved and turned to leave, but not before sending me a meaningfull glance. Telling me to be carefull.

leBlanc smiled and held the door open for me, Ormi and Logos followed me in. She disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes while the smell of warm water and herb leaves filled the small living room. Ormi and Logos were standing at opposite sides of the room and looking around nervously. So, I took the initiative.

"What's going on?" I asked. They both turned to me in slight fear. "You're both acting funny, you know? Is leBlanc sick or something?"

They exchanged glances before Logos took a step towards me. He glanced at the kitchen door before speaking. "A while ago we found a strange box. It had markings on it and we didn't understand them. She opened the box and there wasn't anything in it. We thought someone must have taken whatever was in it before. But, she started acting funny after that, we couldn't figure out why. It's really strange... we never got a spherecall from the Gullwings that said you were missing, but you responded as if we _should_ have. It was as if she just...._knew_ what had happened.... And then, before we ran into you-" His voice broke off as the kitchen door opened. Both Logos and Ormi jumped and spun around.

leBlanc stepped in carrying a tray of tea cups and a tea pot. Steam was rising from the spout. A small cup of sugar was resting next to the cups. She placed it on the table and smiled at us. There was enough for all of us, even Gippal. She poured steaming amber liquid into the cups and handed them out.

"Add as much sugar as you like, this stuff can be very bitter." She told us, spooning a small amount of sugar into her cup and stirring it around.

She offered me a spoon but I declined. Living with cooking from my father and my brother had desensitized my tastebuds, bitter was fine by me. Ormi and Logos exchanged yet another glance before accepting the sugar jar and spoon. leBlanc leaned back and stared at me with an expectant expression, it was as if I had forgotten my lines in a play only she knew the lines to, you know? We all sat back for a few moments before an idea occured to me.

"So...." I started, attempting to form the words in my head. "Ormi and Logos told me you found a strange box somewhere... do you mind showing me where? Or could I see the box?"

leBlanc tilted her head to the side in confusion, but I could tell that's what she had been waiting for. She had listened to our conversation. "Of course you can." She said slowly, glancing at Logos and Ormi before turning back to me. She stood up and started walking towards a small door. "Do you figure it has something to do with your strange Machina?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Dunno. I'd have to see the box first. Logos said it had strang markings on it, it might be Al Bhed, you know?" I stood and followed her towards the door.

She paused in front of the door, placing a hand on the handle. She turned back to me and smiled. "Just be careful, alright? The stairs are very steep here and we haven't gotten around to refurnishing them, yet."

I nodded but something in my mind kept hinting about something I learned in school. I think it was called foreshadowing. It's when a character hints at something that will happen, even if the readers don't figure it out until it actually happens. I don't remember much of that class, though, Gippal kept pulling on my hair until I yelled at him for it - we got detention for the rest of that period.

leBlanc smiled and twisted the doorknob, the door swung open with a creak. She was right. Each stair was barely enough for someones foot and the drops from one stair to the next were pretty steep themselves. The open door created a perfect ring of light at the bottom, it framed leBlanc's and my shadows perfectly at the bottom of the stairs. She gestured for me to go first.

"There's a light switch about half-way down. I'm not sure why they didn't put it up here or down there, but they did." She said slowly, waiting for me to start walking. I didn't. "The box was found just a few feet to the left of the stairs and in between two bricks. I guess they painted it the same color, because no one else noticed it before me. It was sure strange it was empty, though."

I was about to take a step down the stairs when a loud crash met my ears. We all turned towards the noise. I turned in such a way that I was able to catch the glare leBlanc shot the noise's direction. Ormi and Logos took a few steps away from the door in fear. Seconds later, it crashed open and revealed:

"Gippal?" I yelled, letting the confusion drip into my voice. "What are you-"

"They're gone!" He cried, rushing forward until he was a meter or so away from me. "Mnhal stole the spheres we had!"

"C'mon, Gippal." I said, sighing and rubbing my temple. "Why would he do that? What would Mnhal gain from stealing those spheres? _How_ would he steal the spheres? _I_ don't even know where you keep them, how would he?"

"I don't know." Gippal ground out, switching his gaze from me to leBlanc. "I watched the security spheres. He went into my room empty handed and came out shoving three spheres into his pocket."

"Are you sure he wasn't taking them to get fixed, Gippal?" I countered, a strange urge to stand up for my new friend coming over me. Maybe I just wanted to fight with Gippal... "He's a sphere repair man, you know? He might have thought of something he missed and gone back to fix it before you noticed! If you haven't noticed, your crew seems to be scared of you."

Gippal let out a growl, still facing leBlanc not me. "I don't know what you're planning, but leave Rikku out of this! She didn't do anything!" He cried, pulling his Machina revolver out and pointing it over my shoulder. "Get out of your cover and _tell_ us what's going on, _now!_"

"Gippal, what're you-"

My voice was cut off by a muscular arm wrapping around my arms and body from behind, another hand held a sword against my throat. It happened so fast I was barely able to get out a cry of pain when the blade cut into my shoulder slightly. I was distanting aware of the fact that leBlanc was the only one behind me and these arms didn't belong to her. A soft thump sounded somewhere to my left and my eyes darted around the room. They stopped when I found what I was looking for: A mirror just behind Gippal. A tall, short-haired blond man was holding me to his chest with a sword against my throat. leBlanc was laying behind him, unconsious. It seemed to me - judging from the others expression and Gippal's previous words - this stranger had come 'out of his cover' aka, leBlanc. The only conclusion I could come up with was possession, but that was crazy. And, unfortuneatly for me, this man wasn't a stranger. He was a good friend of mine:

"Mnhal..." I murmured, angling my neck to try and catch a glimpse of him. "What's going on, Mnhal? Why are you doing this?"

He ignored my question as Gippal took a step towards us. "Put her down, _now_." He didn't yell, which surprised me greatly, he just sounded angry. His voice, though, held so much fury and tension and murder and all those bad things, that I would have pulled back if I wasn't held against Mnhal's chest.

"Down?" Mnhal asked, as if the question confused him. I saw him smirk, through the mirror.

He dropped the sword he held against my neck, into the ground and pulled another from behind him. My breath caught in my throat when I saw it. The pointed tip that spread out backwards to create a hook on the sword, the familiar metal pattern...everything... All my memories charged into me full-force.

"Tidus..." I breathed, staring at the sword and remembering every fight he ever fought with that sword. The fight against Sin, his father, Seymour...even when he fought me...

With one hand, Mnhal grabbed both my wrists and held the sword with the other. He grinned at Gippal. "Down, it is." He angled me with his hand, so I was facing the stairs. I could see Logos and Ormi take a few steps forward in fear, leBlanc was sitting up weakly, Gippal let out a cry of rage. But, all I was aware of was the rapid beating of my heart and the pain that was sure to come. Mnhal pressed the hand with the sword against my back and shoved. I could feel the sword falling behind me and the light was gone in seconds, they locked me in here...wherever here was. Because of the darkness, I couldn't be sure how much farther down I had to go, but I know I hit three steps before hitting the ground and smashed into the sword a few times. My arm, shoulder and stomach were stinging, so I was positive that's where the sword had cut me. My head, my other shoulder, my wrist and my right leg were aching and I was positive I had broken or twisted something. A cool metal feeling was pressed into my back: the sword. I was lucky it landed on me on it's side, not the tip. I wouldn't be here now, if it did.

My first thought was that I had died, my second was dead people shouldn't feel pain unless they're in hell.

A soft, warm hand brushed against my face, moving my hair away from my eyes. A tall shadow was leaning over me. There was a lamp somewhere behind them and I could see the short blond hair. _No, no please no!_ How long had I been out? Long enough for Mnhal to fight Gippal....and win? No....no that couldn't happen, no! But, surprisingly, the blond man smiled at me. I knew at that moment it wasn't Mnhal.

"You're gonna be fine..." He murmured, pushing the sword off me and wrapping an arm around my shoulder, so he could pull me up and into his arms. He was saying something else to me, but everything around me was fading. Fading fast. I didn't know anything but the intense pain spreading through my body. After a while, I didn't even know that. Just the soothing, cool, darkness around me...

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


	11. Selfishness

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

* * *

The checklist of things to do on my ship formed in my head easily enough. Ammo, gun, Al Bhed potions, regular potions, Elixirs, Rikku's dressphere - why does she keep forgetting it here? - get some grenades if possible and grab the other spheres. It didn't take me long to get the items, I had a large collection of guns and ammo in my closest for rainy days, a crew member was more than willing to give me his supply of grenades. Even getting Rikku's dressphere was easier than I expected. But, it took me a while to realize: No, the spheres were no longer in my drawer. No, they weren't in any other drawer or even in my room. And, yes, someone must have taken them. To say I was angry was an understatement.

I stormed down the hallway until I reached the security office. Slamming the door open, I fixed the guy on duty with a glare. "Security tapes, _now_." Even to me, my voice sounded menacing.

It turns out he thought so, too. The security guy - can't remember his name - scrambled towards the cabinet and jammed a key into the lock. He turned back to me sheepishly.

"Do you have a date in mind, sir?" He asked weakly, obviously scared I was going to blow up at him.

"Today, anything from when I left to when I came back. The bedroom hallway." I said quickly, being angry at this guy wasn't going to help me get the spheres back. And the longer I left Rikku with leBlanc, the more nervous and touchy I became.

He nodded and grabbed a tape near the top. "I just switched to another sphere, actually." He shoved the sphere - with today's date - into a sphere player-thing.

He fastforwarded the tape. I watched myself step out of the room and close the door, a few people zipped by, but nothing happened until about an hour after we had docked.

"Stop!" I ordered him.

He pressed the play button and we watched Mnhal slowly walk down the hallway, he glanced behind himself every few seconds. The short Al Bhed slipped up to my door and jiggled the handle a few minutes before it swung open. He slipped inside, closing the door after him. The security guy fast forwarded it until the door opened again - ten minutes later - enough time for him to find the spheres and leave. Mnhal snuck down the hall and disappeared from view. Without an order from me, the guy grabbed the next few hallways tapes and shoved the next one into the player, fast forwarding until Mnhal came into view. He kept walking, as if he hadn't done anything wrong. We switched the tape twice before something else happened. leBlanc came onto the tape and I stiffened. Mnhal walked straight up to her and held up his hand. A small black ball of energy appeared in his hand and he launched it at leBlanc, it smashed into her chest and she fell back. Mnhal stepped to her and actually stepped _into _her body. Mnhal stood up as leBlanc and smiled at the camera before walking out onto the cabin and probably out the door.

All I knew after that, was Rikku was stuck in a room with that phycho! I bolted out the door, the security's shouts echoing after me. I kept going though and loaded ammunition into my gun. A few people dove out of my way, but most everyone was off the ship by then.

It didn't take me long to exit the ship and reach Guadosalam. I looked around, hoping Rikku might have decided to follow me. She didn't. So, I kept running to the leBlanc syndicate's headquarters. A group of Guado had to run out of my way, there was nothing stopping me from reaching Rikku in time.

I slammed into the front door of the building and shoved it open with my weight. A few syndicate members turned to me in surprise, but I ignored them and kept running. I followed the smell of tea until I reached a living room of sorts. Ormi and Logos were standing behind a table and staring at me in disbelief. Rikku and leBlanc were standing in front of an open stairway. Rikku had confusion written over her face. leBlanc's eyes had narrowed dangerously at me.

"Gippal?" Rikku asked in confusion, staring at me with wide eyes. "What are you-"

"They're gone!" I yelled, charging towards them and only stopping a bit away from Rikku. "Mnhal stole the spheres we had!"

Rikku sighed and rubbed her temples. "C'mon, Gippal. Why would we do that? What would Mnhal gain from stealing those spheres? _How_ would he steal the spheres? _I_ don't even know where you keep them, how would he?"

I let out a growl and switched my gaze from Rikku to leBlanc - Mnhal. "I don't know." I ground out. "I watched the security spheres. I watched him go into my room empty handed and he came out shoving three spheres into his pocket."

"Are you sure he wasn't taking them to get fixed, Gippal?" She countered. Why was she protecting this freak? What was she thinking? "He's a sphere repair man, you know? He might have thought of something he missed and gone back to fix it before you noticed! If you haven't noticed, your crew seems to be scared of you."

It was obvious to me that Rikku was a lost cause, and I'd just have to prove to her. I let out a growl and locked eyes with the Mnhal-possesed leBlanc. "I don't know what you're planning, but leave Rikku out of this! She didn't do anything!" I cried, pulling his Machina revolver out and pointing it at leBlanc's forehead. "Get out of your cover and _tell_ us what's going on, _now!_"

"Gippal, what're you-"

leBlanc's body seemed to slip away, with Mnhal standing in the same place. It didn't make a noise or a sound and seemed like something you might read on a Science Fiction novel. But, it was fairly gross. Like watching an ameoba sperate. Mnhal reached forward and wrapped his arm around Rikku, pulling her to his chest. He reached behind him and pulled a long silver sword out and in front of Rikku. He placed it in front of her neck, ignoring it when the blade slipped too close to her shoulder. Bright red blood slipped down the cut and a small trickle of it ran down her arm. She didn't notice as her eyes darted all around the room, finally settling on something just over my shoulder. A mirror.

"Mnhal..." She murmured, trying to angle her head to see him. "What's going on, Mnhal? Why are you doing this?" She asked weakly.

He ignored her, so I took a step towards them. "Put her down." I growled, trying to grasp the menacing tone I had used earlier. Apparently it did, because Rikku flinched slightly.

"Down?" Mnhal asked, as if the word confused him.

A smirk spread across his face and I realized my mistake in that second. Mnhal dropped the sword he was holding into the ground, so the hilt was still close enough for him to grab, and reached behind him to grab another one. This one was familiar to me. Probably because I've seen it before. It was Tidus' sword. He twisted Rikku's arms behind her and held her wrists together with one hand and held the sword behind her with the other.

"Tidus..." Rikku breath, biting her lip painfully and turning away from me. Trying to hide the tears.

Mnhal grinned at me. "Down it is."

He turned Rikku so she was facing the staircase and placed the hand - that had Tidus' sword in it- on her back. Logos and Ormi stepped back in fear of what was going to happen, and even the barely consious leBlanc looked scared. Rikku's eyes widened in fear when she realized Mnhal's plan. Mnhal looked at me and grinned. He released her hands and threw all his strength into his other arm. Rikku and the sword were sent tumbling down the stairs. I let out a furocious cry of rage when he slammed the door and held up his sword.

Pulling out another gun and aiming at him, I charged. Using the spare gun to deflect the blade, I aimed a few shots at his head, but he dodged and used the pressure from my gun to jumped backwards. I stayed where I was and used both guns to shoot at him - my form slightly resembled the Gun dressphere Yuna uses alot. Mnhal deflected each and every bullet with his gun. leBlanc stood up and darted to my side, pulling her goons with her. They all fell into a attack position easily and glared at Mnhal.

"What is the plan?" Logos asked, pulling out his six-shooters and aiming them at Mnhal.

"Yeah, how're we gonna beat this guy up?" Ormi demanded, pulling his shield off his back dangerously.

My eyes narrowed at LeBlanc. "Why do you care? I thought the Gullwings were your rivals!" I snapped viciously at her. I knew it wasn't her fault that Mnhal possesed her, but I couldn't help my anger after what just happened. Rikku was probably bleeding and dying and scared at the bottom of the stairs.

"They are! But he didn't attack the _Gullwings_." LeBlanc countered, fixing me with a dangerous glare. "He almost killed _Rikku._ I can't very well fight with the Gullwings when their missing a member, now can I? And not to mention Lady Summoner's boyfriend's death."

I growled, but turned back to Mnhal. "Move out of the way, Mnhal! We will have to tell the High Summoner of your attack, but if you let us go now, we'll put in a good word."

Mnhal seemed to think about it for a minute before smiling softly at us. "Why would I possible care what the High Summoner has to say about my task? If anything, I will be rewarded for this." He said calmly. His voice had a 'I-know-something-you-don't-know' kind of tone to it. That was a real good way to get on my bad side.

"What do you mean?" I demanded, lifting my gun a bit, to aim at his forehead.

"If my master's plans succeed, then the High Summoner will no longer have a place at the world's front, will she?" He shook his head, and as if answering his own question, he muttered. "No, she will not. The High Summoner will be punished for her crimes against my master and I will be rewarded, you may be rewarded, depending on your choice at this moment. I have been told to let you all pass, on one condition."

We waited for a minutes, but he didn't say anything so I yelled at him. "What condition?!"

"The condition that you kill the man that is also down there." He said calmly, stepping away from the doorway and gesturing for us to walk down.

Ormi and Logos exchanged glances and I could feel LeBlanc's eyes on me. They were looking to me for this choice. I have no idea why, but they were, and I wasn't going to let anyone down.

"Will you let us leave freely?" I asked, he nodded in response. "Rikku, as well?"

He frowned. "That is harder to say." He murmured, "We will see what the Master has to say."

To say I snapped was an understatement. I tore open in such a way that Cid would be jealous for the rest of his life. I raised both my guns and - without aiming - fired all the rounds from each of them. Each and every bullet smashed into a vital point. Mnhal fell back with a disgusting squelch. Normally, I would have stopped to check my handywork, or even flinched at the gruesome scene - like LeBlanc - but I had more pressing matters to attend to: Rikku.

I bolted towards the door and swung it open. The light framed the bottom of the stairs perfectly. A few stairs had blood on them and a small puddle had formed at the bottom, but there was no sign of Rikku - the probable source of the blood.

"Didn't he say there was another guy down there?" Ormi asked, looking between Logos and LeBlanc. Both nodded and looked at me expectantly.

I tore down the stairs, keeping a firm grip on the railing, while holding a gun in front of me - the bad guys didn't need to know it was empty. A soft, slightly familiar voice caught my attention.

"Geez, Rikku, I didn't mean for you to come here like that." A man's voice sighed softly.

"Well, you didn't exactly leave clear instructions!" Rikku's voice shot back angrily, she gasped in pain. "Ouch! Why can't I just use my dressphere? It'd be alot easier than this hell!"

"You don't have it, Rikku." The other voice said calmly.

I reached into my pocket and my fist tightened on her primary weapon. Without a second thought, I ran down the remaining stairs and aimed my guns in the direction of the voices. A smaller form was sitting on a chair - Rikku, I thought - with her arm resting on a table and her head aimed in my direction. It was too dark to see expression - considering we were in the only light part of the basement-thing. The other form was slightly larger than her - smaller than me - and bent over a drawer looking for something. Metal was scraping against metal inside the drawer and I panicked. I pulled the safety off and reloaded.

"Don't move." I ordered, using both hands to aim at the mystery figure. It stiffened and stood up slowly, his hands above his head. "Walk away from Rikku slowly."

"What are you doing, Gippal?" Rikku asked in confusion, getting out of her seat. She winced and grabbed her side.

"How bad are your injuries, love?" LeBlanc asked, in a strangely soothing voice.

"Been better." Rikku replied, taking a few steps towards us and wincing again. "Nothing a few days rest won't cure."

"Rikku-" The other man started.

"Don't move!" I yelled again, pulling the other gun out and reloading it, too.

"Gippal, put the guns down." Rikku said, sighing as she tried to take another step and almost fell over. LeBlanc darted forward and helped her walk towards me.

The gash on her shoulder had gotten bigger, but was stitched up. There was a good-sized cut on her upper arm and a large bandage across her side and stomach. She was covered in bruises and she had probably broken a few bones, she was walking like she had.

"Gippal, put it down." Rikku said slowly, grabbing onto my gun hand. "He helped me, Gippal. I had a broken leg and probably would have died, but he used all the potions he had on me and I'm better! C'mon, Gippal, this is what we've been waiting for!"

That threw me off and I turned to the shadow in horror. "You mean...." I hesitated, slolwy lowering my guns. "This guy is...."

"Tidus." Rikku finished for me.

He waved at me and took a few steps into the light. His blond hair was matted to his head with sweat, dirt and mud. He had a few decent-sized sratchs on his arms, legs and face. A large bruise was covering his left eye and it was closed slightly as if proving that fact. It looked like he had been beatten to a pulp by a group of fiends. Of course, none of his injuries were life-threatening, not as bad as Rikku's.

He sighed and pulled up a wooden chair. "I didn't mean for you two to come and find me. Bringing you along was a way of saying to stay away..." He sighed softly and gestured for Rikku to sit down. She complied and slid down the wall. "It's dangerous for you to be here. I was hoping you would tell Wakka and Lulu, or Kimahri... Just not Yuna or Rikku..."

"What?" I asked in confusion.

Tidus glanced around. "I found that first sphere awhile ago and decided to figure it out alone. I had assumed Summoner's Blood meant Yuna, like you two did." He paused, his eyes were shimmering sadly. "But...it doesn't. When I found that last sphere, I knew I'd need warn you... so I thought about it and I knew that if I told you right out, you'd tell someone else. So I asked you and Gippal to come with me."

It was at that point I understood. He tried to warn _Rikku_, not _Yuna_. He didn't want to bring Yuna _and_ Rikku into this. Maester Seymour needed One of Summoner's Blood. Not a Summoner... or A Summoner's Blood... He needed Rikku... Rikku's Uncle was a High Summoner as was her cousin, Yuna. She was _blood_-related to two High Summoners. She was a part of the Summoner's Blood Line and it probably never occured to anyone but Maester Seymour.

"He wants Rikku..." I said slowly, looking up at Tidus. "You told me to protect her. You didn't tell me to protect her from Seymour!"

"I thought you'd be able to handle it!" Tidus argued, he sighed and shook his head. "If I thought you were going to react this way, I would have told Wakka to watch her and Yuna for me."

Anger flashed through my veins. "I'm not mad about that." I ground out, glaring daggers at him. "You didn't tell me what I was protecting her from! I would have tied her up somewhere if I knew _this_ was what I was protecting her from! I wouldn't have brought her on this trip and I would have told her friends about it! But that would have been too easy, wouldn't it?! You're crazy to think I wouldn't protect Rikku! I always protect the people I love!"

It took me a few minutes to realize why everyone was quiet and then another few to realize the insinuation. Rikku's face had gotten strangely red, LeBlanc was smiling gleefully. Logos and Ormi both turned away respectfully while Tidus just smiled at us.

"N-no... I didn't mean-" I stammered.

A loud explosion cut off any denial I could have made. A few rocks separated from the ceiling and fell around us - far enough away that none of us noticed. Tidus took a shaky breath and stood up, he grabbed his sword and offered Rikku his hand to help her up as well. He turned to me.

"Gippal, I asked you to protect Rikku. Will you take her as far away from here as possible, please?" He asked, his face was completely emotionless and - even though I hadn't known him long - I knew it was strange.

"Take?" Rikku echoed, before I could respond. "Who said I'll let him _take_ me anywhere? I'm not just a little girl you can boss around!"

"Rikku..." Tidus said slowly, placing a hand on her shoulder softly. "It'll be safer for you to be near the others right now. Tell them what's going on and I'll come join you all later, okay?"

"No!" She screamed, slapping his hand off her shoulder. "No way, Tidus! They'd never forgive me if I told them I left you here all alone! You were dead, for Spira's sake! I'm not sure how, and I don't really care. I'm not gonna leave my best friend alone in a place like this! This is as much my problem as it is your's, now! I'm not leaving you again, Tidus! You didn't see how upset Yunie was about it... I'm not gonna let _any_body go through that again! Expecially not my family! And you know what? You _are_ my family now! So, I'm not gonna let you play the matyr again, Tidus!"

I laughed at that and they turned to me like I was crazy. "Yeah, Rikku's right. There's no way in hell I'm letting you stay here alone, Tidus. Yuna wasn't the only sad one after your death. Rikku was broken when you died. And if I'm supposed to protect Rikku, the shouldn't I protect her from emotional stuff to?"

"Who said I need protecting?" Rikku countered, turning to me instead of Tidus.

"Look at yourself, Rikku! You're a mess!"

"Yeah? Well, I-"

"You guys have to leave! This is my problem, not yours! I can't just let you sacrifice yourselves for me! If I want to die then it's my problem, not yours!" Tidus interupted.

"Geez, how self-centered can you get?" Rikku muttered, rolling her eyes at him with a smile.

"Yeah, man, that's harse." I replied, stepping next to Rikku cheerfully.

"Wha?" He asked in confusion.

"You're married Tidus!" Rikku yelled, laughing. "You and Yuna are the closest I've ever seen anybody! She died inside when you died, despite how emo-poem that sounds, it's true! She barely responded to anything we said and basically everything triggered her tears. You two are, like, the embodiment of 'one soul, two bodies,' you know?"

"What's mine is yours, right?" I echoed, leaning non-chalantely against the wall. "You two are connected. If you die, it's not just your business. It will affect all your friends. You have a right to them to keep on living, to keep them from experiencing what they went through the first time."

"Yeah! You've 'died' _way_ to many times to put us through that _again_. Next time we might just leave you dead to spite you!" Rikku placed her hands on her hips. "This isn't a video game, Tidus! This is real life! You don't get that many tries at a certain level before you have to try again from the beginning!" Rikku's voice softened weakly. "What did you tell Yunie? That you had to cherish the people close to you while you still can, right? We can't cherish you if you keep running off to die, you know?"

Tidus looked between us before his face softened and he smiled at us. "I'm sorry, guys. You're right." He turned to LeBlanc and her henchmen. "You three should go find Yuna, tell her and the others that I'm alive and what's going on. Tell them to be angry at me, not Rikku or Gippal."

"Yeah! And tell them not to worry and that we'll all be extra careful for them!" Rikku called, waving at their retreating forms. It seemed they were in such a hurry to leave that good-byes could be saved for later.

When the three syndicate members had disappeared we all looked at each other before Rikku spoke up.

"What's the plan?"


	12. Sudran

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

* * *

Gippal and I exchanged glances when the building gave another lurch. We had agreed to follow Tidus to whatever was in the room ahead, but this was starting to seem crazy. The building was shaking more and more as each minute passed, although it wasn't to the point where the building wouldn't stop shaking....yet. If it kept at this rate, it would soon. The shaking only happened once or twice every three minutes or so. Even if it didn't happen alot, it was still vicious. The entire underground cavern quaked - usually launching me off the ground - and numerous rock or soil chunks would fall near us. One almost crushed Tidus.

Tidus turned to us with an anxious look, he gestured for us to hurry up. We glanced at each other again, but followed him anyway. I could see from the way Gippal kept shoving himself between me and Tidus that he didn't completely trust the blond swordsman yet. He probably didn't believe Tidus was back - neither did I - but that's kind of why we were on the journey, you know?

So, I decided to let Gippal relax and asked. "Hey, Tidus? How are you alive?" Simple, but effective. He turned and sent me a strange look, so I hastily added. "Not that I'm complaining, of course! Just curious....and since we're not really doing anything...."

Tidus sighed and glanced at Gippal. "I'm not entirely positive. One minute, I was lying on the ice in major pain with you and Gippal screaming at me, and the next, I was lying in a hospital bed. First I just though I had blanked out-" He explained, ducking around a falling rock. "And that you two had brought me to a town somewhere, but then a guy came in and told me what happened. He said the his Master had decided I was worth saving and had used some kind of machine to transport me here, while he created a replica of myself back near Gagazet. I had just recovered and was looking for a way out when Rikku fell down, at my feet, with my sword." He shrugged airily and slapped the sword at his side.

Gippal froze next to me and grabbed my arm, to stop me. "What guy? What was his name?" He demanded angriliy, pulling me so I was farther back than him.

"Huh?" Tidus asked, glancing at the ceiling, as it it was going to collapse any minute. "I don't know. Some Al Bhed name, he didn't talk to me much."

I was about to start walking about but Gippal kept his hand on my arm. "What was his name?" He ground out, his eyes narrowing ta Tidus considerably.

Tidus shrugged and sighed. "I dunno, Men-something."

"Mnhal?" I suggested, finally catching where Gippal was going with it.

"Yeah!" Tidus yelled happily a grin spreading across his face. "Do you know him?"

Gippal paused, glancing at me. "Not anymore." He muttered, releasing my arm and walking after Tidus. "He's dead...."

"What?!" I demanded, running up to him. "You killed him? What were you thinking?! We could have interogated him, Gippal! He might have known something important! Why'd you kill him?!"

Gippal's fists tightened at his sides but he ignored me, just muttered something about 'annoying pests' under his breath.

I let out a 'humph,' knowing that he wouldn't tell me. I walked past him and up to Tidus, immediately starting a conversation with my friend. He basically asked how everyone was and what they had been up to the last time I saw them. I left out the part about pantsing Shinra, they was no need to leave that part in. I told him that Yuna was majorly upset about his 'death' and that pretty much everyone had gotten quiet. That Yunie was probably mad at me about leaving like I did and hiding this from her. But, we both agreed she'd be happy about seeing him again.

After a few minutes of walking - and countless earthquakes - we reached a large door. Tidus pulled his sword out and used it to push the door open a crack, and peered inside. Gippal and I stood back quietly, until Gippal's voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"He threatened you." Gippal murmured quietly, taking out his gun and readjusting a few pieces as if he hadn't even spoken.

I raised an eyebrow. "Who threatened who?" I asked in complete confusion.

"Mnhal..." He answered, looking into the barrel of his gun. "He threatened you, Rikku. I wasn't going to let him do that, so I shot him."

I stared at him is disbelief before I laughed nervously. "Um, thanks, I guess. You don't have to kill people because they hate me, Gippal. People threaten me all the time, it comes with the territory." I gestured at my swirly, green eyes.

He shook his head and glanced up to see if Tidus was done. "It shouldn't, though." He laughed bitterly and shoved his Machine-gun back into its holster. "After everything that's happened to this world, all the declarations that have been passed, the rules, the laws... Us Al Bhed are still treated like second-class citizens. Spira is dependant on us and no one cares. Most things in this world are run by Machina now. Al Bhed are the only ones who can make or fix it, then don't give a da.... The world shouldn't be like this."

I sighed and looked at the ground. "Yeah, it sucks." A smile spread across my face. "My dad always told me that Al Bhed have to be strong so we can just laugh when others scream at us. 'Cause if we can't find happiness in a place that's like Hell, then we'll just give up. _Vydran_ says that life is made this way to test us, so we have the 'right' to live...but, that's why I became Yunie's Guardian... I wanna change that. It's not fair, you know? People shouldn't die before their ready, and there certainly shouldn't be all this discrimination crap....but, there is... So, I'm gonna chance that..." I turned to him and grinned. "Who knows? Maybe the world will start treating us better after this, you know?"

He laughed and ruffled my hair. "Yeah...I know." He said quietly, turning to Tidus and sending the blond a questioning glance? "Are we ready to go?"

Tidus gestured for us to come closer, we complied. "I don't see anybody in there, but there's a huge tripod thing on an alter-of-sorts."

Me and Gippal froze, exchanging glances. Tidus went on, completely oblivious.

"There's a door at the other side of the room, there might be more, but I can't see anything else without opening the door more." He muttered, using his sword to push himself up. He turned back to us seriously. "You two can probably still make it back. I'll be fine without you, you don't have to stay here on my account."

I was about to tell him to stop being stupid, but Gippal beat me to it. "I'm not." He said completely calm. "I'm here because Rikku's here. She wants to stay with you and make sure you don't get yourself killed again, so, I have to do this." Gippal raised his hand and smacked the back of Tidus' head...hard. "Let's go."

Tidus sent me a bewildered look but I just shrugged and muffled a giggle. Pulling my daggers out, I followed them.

The room was _huge_! Bigger than LeBlanc's entire house times two! Maybe even three! Most of the room's floor was taken up by a giant platform in the middle. About six or seven meters were left around the edges - and that wasn't even half the room. A large metal pole was hanging down from the ceiling. About halfway it split off into four others. Three went in different directions and ended a few feet from the end of the platform. The fourth kept going straight down and stopped a few meters from the ground. Chains hung from every pole in the place. Most hung off the center one, though. There were four doors - in each corner - and they all had giant padlocks on them. Great.... A soft squeal caught our attention.

Gippal looked confused and reached into the small bag he had. He sighed and pulled his hand out, Kiki was wrapped in his fingers looking around the room in awe.

"You brought Kiki?" I asked in disbelief, looking up at him a semi-pout. "Why would you do that?"

"I didn't!" He protested, dropped Kiki on my shoulder and zipping up his bag. "He must have snuck in!"

I rolled my eyes and started towards the platform. Both of my companions froze and tightened their hold on their individual weapons.

"Rikku!" Tidus hissed, looking around the room suspiciously. "What do you think you're _doing_?!"

"Investigating." I called over my shoulder cheerfully. "We can't really do anything else here, so we might as well find out what the heck this thing is."

Bending over the cloesest pole, I ran my fingers along the smooth metal. Gippal and Tidus ran up to me and waited for a few minutes before sighing and looking at the alter. After a while, Gippal crouched down and moved his finger along small markings. Every so often - on the alter - spheres were imbeded, like at the Cloister of Trials, I guess. Strangely enough, this place kind of reminded me of Macalania's Cloister, you know?

Gippal's voice caught my attention. "This doesn't look like Machina...it's probably not Al Bhed made, huh?" He asked, looking up at me questioningly. Tidus glanced between us before looking down at the alter with a soft 'I-know-your-secrets' kind of smile.

I frowned. "No, it doesn't... what are you grinning about?" I demanded, standing up slowly.

Tidus stifled a laugh behind his hand and smiled at me. "You two seem closer." In his mind, that was probably a joke, because he burst out laughing seconds later. Me and Gippal exchanged glances.

"Explain." Gippal ordered, using his gun to outline a large engraving.

"Well, I never thought these weird 'save the world' things were actually the reason me and Yuna got together." He said happily, pushing himself up with his sword. "I guess it is!"

"What do you and Yunie have to do with me and Gippal being friends?" I asked, pulling Kiki into my arms and standing up, so I was at more-or-less eye level with him. Gippal did the same.

"You two are acting the same me and Yuna did before the Fayth's stopped dreaming me." He said laughing.

My face got suddenly warm as realization dawned on me. I guess it hit Gippal too, because he turned away from me. I was about to retort and yell at the blond swordsman when a slamming noise echoed around the room. We all spun around to look at the door we came through. It was locked shut. Tidus bolted to the door and - when he reached it - threw all his weight against it. It didn't even creak. Gippal let out a growl and pulled out his pistol, I copied and switched to my 'Thief' dressphere easily, pulling my daggers out. Tidus slowly creapt back towards us, his sword held out in front of him suspiciously. We all stood with our shoulders pressed together - in a loose circle. For a while, the only noise was the quiet jiggling of the chains. But that was soon broken by a loud, familiar voice.

"Hello, again, Guardians." The voice greeted, echoing around the large room. "It has been too long."

Tidus let out a growl. "Seymour!" He screamed, holding his sword tighter. Gippal stiffened beside me. "Get out here and fight like a man!"

Maester Seymour laughed. "It was so very kind of you to bring the Summoner's Blood and her protecter here, young Guardian." He said calmly, his voice as annoying as ever. "Now, please step onto the platform, Lady Rikku, and please tell your Guardian to step to the closest javelin."

I leaned back slightly, against my friends backs. "Yeah, right! You'd have to kill me!" I snapped at his voice - not sure if the body was even with us.

Seymour sighed softly. "Why must they always pick the hard route?" It sounded more like he was talking to himself, so we didn't answer.

The jaggling chains grew louder suddenly and we all spun around. The chains - the ones hanging from the middle 'javelin' - were all shooting directly at us. Tidus dove off to one side and Gippal pulled me the other way. Before we had even hit the ground, cold metal wrapped around my ankle and pulled me back. I slipped out of Gippal's arms with a cry of pain, dropping my daggers at his feet.

"No! Rikku!" Gippal yelled. A few gunshots echoed around the room and I felt a bullet whiz past my shoulder, but they just bounced off the metal links.

The chains pulled me towards the middle of the alter and coiled around me until it gripped my wrists and arms instead of my ankles, holding them high above my head so I had to stay on my knees. Tidus was starting to pull himself onto the platform but a long chain grabbed onto his sword and used that to throw him across the room. Gippal let out a growl and gave up his attempts of climbing onto the alter-thing with me.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Gippal screamed at the room. "What are you going to do with Rikku?!"

Seymour's laugh echoed around the room again, and I shuddered. "Not just the Lady Rikku, young man, you two will be included as well."

As those words left his mouth, more chains shot from two opposite javelins and towards my friends. The one directly in front of me grabbed Gippal and spun him around, so he was sitting on the alter and tied to the metal pole. The other - the left chain - did the same with Tidus. Both let out low growls when the chains secured them. But, I ignored that. It seemed that I was in a way more uncomfortable position than them, so I just focused on getting comfortable. The chain around my arms had pulled back around the middle javelin and was holding my arms up, so that my elbows were just a bit above my eyes. A creaking noise sounded behind me and we all spun around. The door behind us - the one we came through - had opened and a shorter person was walking in. He had short-cut blond hair and a dozen or so bloody red stains on his shirt and pants.

"Mnhal..." I whispered, staring at disbelief at him, I turned to Gippal. "I thought you killed him!"

"I did!" He yelled instantly, looking me straight in the eye. "No one could survive that many gunshots, Rikku! Look at him! He's like the walking dead!"

"He is pretty pale.... he can't actually be alive though..." Tidus informed us in a strained voice, he hesitated and raised his head slightly. "Hey, Seymour! I get why me, Rikku and the dead guy are here, but why Gippal?"

He laughed again, all three of us shuddered this time - while Mnhal just sat against the pole and let the chains wrap around himself.

"Because, young Guardian, he has succeded you as the Summoner lines protector." Seymour said simply. He must have seen our clueless looks so he continued. "If Lady Yuna still had her Summoner rank, I would have gone after her, but she became a High Summoner when you defeated Jecht, correct? Therefore, I needed an unattached female of the Summoner's lineage: Rikku. You are not Rikku's protector: Gippal _is_. You are the Guardian who caused my death, she is the Summoner's Blood, he is her protector, and Mnhal is my faithful servant. All four points are accounted for. Let the games begin."

A low rumbling echoed around the large room and I stiffened. Gippal and Tidus did the same, both turning to me. The rumbling started to get louder and the room's lights dimmed considerably - I could barely see the people around me. We all remained quiet. When nothing happened Tidus relaxed and grinned at us.

"I guess it's not-"

A bright light lit up the room accompanied by an explosion. I gasped and leaned forward - trying to roll myself into a tight ball.

_"Thundara!"_

"Rikku, calm down!" Gippal's voice screamed at me.

I was about to turn and look at him, but another explosion sounded around the room and I closed my eyes. The light still shone through my eyelids, though.

_"Brother, ramb sa!"_

"Rikku!" Tidus screamed, his head darting between me and Gippal. "What's going on? I thought she got over this!"

Gippal shook his head and turned back to me. "Calm down, Rikku! It's not real! Just an illusion! There can't possible be thunder underground!"

_"Rikku, tuh'd ku du vyn uod!"_

"Rikku! You need to calm down _now_! Focus on my voice, Rikku! _Please_!" Gippal begged, fear coating his words.

"Rikku! C'mon, Rikku! Think of something else!" Tidus yelled, obviously seeing the panic in my face.

But, I was too far gone to even hear my friend's voices.

_"Brother, cdub!"_

Suddenly, everything stopped. The noises, the light, my friends screaming... Everything.... My first thought was that I had died.... I was wrong. Opening my eyes showed that we were all in the exact same places we were before, but everyone was frozen....Everyone but me and Gippal. We both glanced at each other. I could see the panic in his eyes when he saw the tears. I shook my head and looked around.

A soft squeak caught our attention. We both turned.

Kiki was hopping towards us and stopped when he was standing next to me. His form began to shift and grow. His colors changed from brown, to orange, green and a blond-color. He kept growing until he was just a bit taller than I was. His form shifted from a monkey to a womans. When the person bent next to me and placed a hand on my cheek, she opened her eyes and I gasped.

_"Sudran..._" I breathed.


	13. Rammu

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

* * *

It was so hard. Seeing Rikku in so much pain and being unable to do anything about it hurt me more than anything else in my life. I'm not sure why, but at that moment, I disagreed with what Tidus said about me and Rikku being as close as him and Yuna. We were closer.

Rikku's scream broke through my thoughts. She had her knees pulled up slightly and was trying to bury her face in them. She had tears pouring down her face in terror and I was actually scared she might have a heart attack. Another explosion sounded above us and I flinched when Rikku screamed again. Panic spread through my veins. It was no longer about keeping the thousands of promised I had made to other people anymore, it was about keeping a promise to myself. No one would harm Rikku without my permission. As possesive as that sounded, that's what was going to happen from that point on.

"Rikku, calm down!" I yelled at her, pulling against the chains - if anything they just tightened.

She lifted her head slightly but another lightning bolt hit closer to her and she flinched, trying to bury her head again.

"Rikku!" Tidus screamed, his head darted between the two of us in panic. "What's going on? I thought she got over this!"

I shook my head and turned back to Rikku. "Calm down, Rikku! It's not real! It's an illusion!" I was lying, of course. The lightning had just demolished a chain, but it seemed against physics that thunder and lightning could be underground, so I told her so.

She flinched again and barely stifled a sob.

"Rikku, you need to calm down _now_! Focus on my voice, Rikku! _Please!_" Yeah, I could hear the desperation in my voice and the pleading. From the look Tidus sent me, so could he, but he probably figured out the reason for my terror and started yelling, too.

"Rikku! C'mon, Rikku! Think of something else!" Tidus screamed, watching in horror as another sob escaped her throat.

A voice entered my head...mine.

_"Brother, cdub!"_

Everything froze after that, like someone hit the pause button on our lives. I looked around and no one was moving....but me....and Rikku. She was still pulled into a half-ball and letting sobs rack her body. After a while, she looked up at the sudden lack of thunder. She looked to me in terror. I sent her a questioning look and she shook her head. A soft squeak sounded to my right, we both turned.

Kiki had hopped onto the platform and ran up to Rikku. His form began shifting - like when he changed into the bird - but it was different this time. His body grew bigger, first. To a bigger form - slightly taller than Rikku. The brown fur shrunk back replaced by skin and an stomach-high orange top and green short-shorts. The brown fur on his head became blond and lengthed out. Everything else became tan skin. The woman bent over Rikku lightly and placed a hand on her cheek.

Rikku gasped weakly.

_"Sudran...."_ She breathed softly, tears slid down her cheek as I froze.

Now that I looked, I could see the familiarites bewteen Rikku and her mother. They both had the same hair - us Al Bhed were good at telling shades because all of us were blond. They had the same eyes, nose, mouth, everything. Rikku's mother was taller, though, and a bit more muscled than her daughter. The shorts Rikku's _Sudran_ was wearing were the same kind that Rikku wore when they fought Sin and her shirt looked like a shorter version of the one Rikku wore, as well.

The woman nodded and smiled sadly, her eyes were watery as if she was going to cry as well. "I am so proud of you, Rikku. You've grown into a beautiful woman, I've never been so proud in my life..." She said quietly to her daughter. It felt like I was intruding on this private moment. "I am so sorry that you have had to put up with all you have...Sin...Vegnagun...Now this...A girl your age shouldn't worry about that... It was my wish to protect you and Brother from those things....But, look at you now. My little girl...All grown up..."

Rikku's lip quivered and more tears slid down her cheek. "_Sudran, _I-"

Her mother shook her head and pulled Rikku into a hug. "I have stayed this way for so long.... I wasn't able to make a physical form - such as Sir Auron had... I have been like this for too long, Rikku. I needed a form to stay in and there you were... Making a small Machina, perfect for using... I apologize for recking your design, though." She winked. "You get your skills from me, remember that."

Rikku let out a watery laugh and bit her lip.

Her mother let out a trill of a laugh and used her thumb to wipe Rikku's tears off. "Come on, Rikku. Do you really want to let me see you crying in my final moments?"

She shook her head softly and let out a sob.

The older woman turned to me lightly and smiled. "I appreciate your help, young man. You don't know how much it means to me..." She murmured, shaking her head softly and hugging Rikku again. "Rikku has always been a normal girl who was shoved into a hard life... I'm glad she had someone to look out for her..."

It was my turn to shake my head. "It was my pleasure and I believe the term is 'has.'" I informed her calmly, leaning back agains the post now that Rikku was safe.

She frowned and Rikku looked up at me. "I beg your parden?"

"You said she _had _someone to look out for her. It's has, not had. I'm going to protect Rikku until I die, ma'am." I told her, trying to be as formal as possible. One of Rikku's parents already hated me, I'd do the best to make sure the other liked me - dead or not.

She laughed again - her laugh was so similar to Rikku's... "Of course, I apologize. And, by the way, my name isn't ma'am. It's Kiytu."

I laughed and grinned at Rikku. "Geez, Rikku, you didn't tell me how cool your mom is." It was meant as a joke, but Rikku just leaned into her mother's shoulder sadly.

Kiytu smiled and tightened her arm around her daughter's shoulder. "Rikku, could you do me a favour please?" Rikku looked up at her. Kiytu reached into her pocket and pulled out three small, multi-colored boxes. Blue, Green and Orange. "Give the Blue one to your brother, the green to your father and I want you to keep the orange one, okay, Rikku?" She pushed the boxes into her daughter's pocket.

Rikku nodded softly and looked up at her mother. "I don't understand." She murmured. "Auron stayed un-sent for a long time, why can't you?"

Kiytu smiled and ruffled Rikku's hair. "I would if I could, darling, but I lost my chance. When a person is first killed, they have an option to go straight to the Farplanes or become an unsent form. I choose to go to the Farplanes, but passed you and Brother on my way. I stayed with you two for a while before I decided to follow you two until someone sent me.... no one did. Sir Auron could see me, we were both unsent after all, and told me what had happened. I asked him not to tell you..."

Rikku shook her head. "I don't understand, _Sudran_."

"You will, sweetheart." She stood up slowly and walked over to me, she bent down next to me and lowered her voice. "I know of your feelings for my daughter and approve, but I need to know you will always be there for her and protect her. Can you do that?"

I nodded softly. "I don't understand, either. What's going on?"

Kiytu smiled at me. "I am going to give you the last of my powers so you can get Rikku and your other friend out of here, but please don't use it until you need to. It won't be as simple as getting out. You will need to fight Seymour." I frowned so she stood and walked back over to Rikku, explaining it on the way. "The thunder _is_ the purpose of this machine. It scares Rikku enough that it triggers the protective instinct in you and the swordsman. They start fighting to get to you and that is the key to his revival. He will only need a few drops of your blood and Mnhals, which he already has. He sent his servant to collect some blood from where you fell and some of his own. He is an unsent, like me. You will need your cousin to send them both, Rikku."

Rikku nodded weakly.

Kiytu's lip trembled and she bent down to hug her daughter. "I will miss you... _so_ much, my daughter, but, please, I need you to be brave for me." She buried her face in Rikku's shoulder and a sob echoed back to me. I could see the tears starting to stream down Rikku's face. Kiytu cleared her throat lightly and pulled back. "Tell Brother and your father I love them, and hug them extra hard for me, Rikku."

"No, _Sudran_... Don't leave me again...please..." Rikku begged, pulling against the chains to reach her mother. "I don't want to be alone..._ Sudran_! Please, _Sudran_!"

Kiytu turned away from Rikku and towards me. She started walking, ignoring Rikku's pleas. When she was closer she crouched in front of me and held her hand out. A small yellow sphere appeared in her hand and she held it a few inches from my chest. She looked up at me - as if making sure I was good enough for Rikku - she nodded to herself and pressed the glowing sphere against my chest. All that was left was a soft tingling where it went in a warm feeling spreading through my heart. All her emotions spike through me before they returned to my own. Leaving Rikku was as painful as it was for her daughter, if not more. Kiytu smiled at me and pressed another box - purple - into my pocket, before standing up to look at her daughter.

"Please, _Sudran_! Don't go!" Rikku cried.

Her mother smiled at her. "Be brave, Rikku. You're not alone anymore. I love you, sweeheart."

"No!" Rikku screamed as her mother disappeared suddenly. The pyreflies spreading out like fireworks.

The scene around us snapped back into 'play' mode again, but Rikku's gaze was focused completly on the place her mother had been. The chains around me loosened and fell. Before they even hit the floor, I was half-way to Rikku. I had my arms wrapped around her when Tidus' cry of confusion reached my ears. But, I ignored all that. All I focused on was covering Rikku's ears and keeping her close to me. The chains must have fallen off Tidus, too - Seymour didn't need us here anymore, I guess - because he was crouched next to us in a few minutes. The lightning and thunder had stopped, but Rikku was still sobbing into my chest.

Tidus placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Rikku, the thunders gone."

I shot him a confused look, but remembered he couldn't know what just happened. "He's right, Rikku. It's gonna be okay." I twisted myself around and place my right arm under her knees. Without a second thought, I stood up - with her in my arms - and started towards the door we came through...when it creaked open. Me and Tidus froze, Rikku lifted her head from my chest enough to see what we were looking at.

A clapping sound echoed back to us as a figure stepped into the room. A tall Gaudo stepped in. He had strangely spiked, blue hair and a weird robe. He was clapping smugly at us. By the way Rikku and Tidus stiffened, this must be dead Maester Seymour.

"Well done." He congratulated us with a confidant smile of his face. "Of course, your victory was too late to actually celebrate anything. And I will now have to destroy you three....unless you are willing to join my side?" When none of us made a move to answer he continued. "I didn't think so, but it was worth asking, yes? However, I will have to ask you three to throw your weapons over in the corner, with Lady Rikku's daggers."

Rikku stiffened and turned to look at her discarded daggers. Tidus let out a growl and let himself fall into a fighting crouch, I set Rikku on the ground and did the same. Seymour laughed, we all flinched.

"Do you reall think that will help?" He asked smugly.

His form began to shift, and Rikku flinched next to me. I was about to wrap my arm around her consolingly, but she darted past Tidus and towards her daggers. By the time she reached them and grabbed them, Seymour's form had grown to be half the size of the room, if he kept growing the room would explode from the inside out. A large tentacle-thing shot from the shifting mass and towards Rikku. She easily deflected it with her daggers and ran back to us. I pulled her to my side the second she reached us. There was no point yelling at her, I would have done the same thing. Tidus shoved both us of towards the alter and kept shoving until we had reached the other side of the room. The large Seymour blob was now as big as the room and the top - head? - was pushing on the ceiling, causing a few pieces to fall and show the dark sky above us. The blob was beginning to solidify and shapes were starting to show.

Rikku looked between me and Tidus. "I have a plan." She said quickly, looking up and down the blob. "We'll charge him and use him as a ladder to get up to the surface, alright?"

"Are you crazy?!" I snapped, shoving bullets into my pistol, wishing I had had time to grab my canon.

"Listen!" Rikku cried, jumping onto the alter. Despite the creatures size, we still had the large platform between us and it. "I think I know what he's doing. That tentacle was part of a fiend we saw in Sin, remember, Tidus? The, um, what was it's name? Um... Adamantoise! The tentacle looked like an un-scaly version of it's tail! I just saw a part of a Demonlith, Behemoth King, Exoray, and the Gemini! He's just combing the forms of all the fiends we fought inside Sin! If we just wait for the Adamantoise parts to show up again, we can run up it's back scales and be done and gone with this place, right?"

Me and Tidus exchanged glances and I sighed. "It's as good a plan as we're ever going to get." I told them calmly, following Rikku onto the platform.

"What?!" Tidus yelled looking at me in horror. "Are you series?! This is crazy!"

"Would you rather be crushed by a roof, Tidus?" Rikku snapped, falling into crouch - so she was ready to run.

He hesitated and grumbled something inaudiably before jumping up next to us and falling into a crouch like ours. The second an even slightly Adamantoise part showed through, we were gone. We darted across the platform - thankfully it was smooth - and jumped onto the spike sticking out the side. A few shot in our path and we had to swing around - Tidus would have gotten impaled if I didn't pull him out of the way - and we were almost at the top when the parts began changing again, switching from Adamantoise to something else. All we could do was keep going, we were too high up to survive the fall.

Adrenaline shot through me and I pushed myself the rest of the way to the top, thankfully the next fiend was a Demonlith and it's skeletal parts were easy to jump off. I pushed myself off the last part and turned to help the others, Rikku darted past me. Tidus stepped of a skeletal arm, just as it was going back in and didn't get enough momentum. His fingers skimmed the side of the ground, but both me and Rikku grabbed a different hand and pulled.

"Geez!" Rikku cried, shoving all her weight behind her. "You and Yunie have _got _to stop falling down things!"

I yanked his arm up and - when he came up - shoved him and Rikku away from the growing hole. A lightning bolt hit something close by and we all turned. A dozen or so giant posts were sticking up at seemingly random points, attracting the lightning.

"Thunder Plains..." I whispered, mentally cursing our horrible luck.

Rikku took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes, obviously trying to calm herself. I stopped pulling them when we were far enough away and close enough to a lightning rod. I pulled out my Cellsphere, selected another sphere and held it in front of my face. A voice greeted me.

"Hey, boss! What's up?" My main mechanic greeted happily from the other line.

"I need to you to fly over Thunder Plains and drop my canon off." I said simply, closing the sphere before he could complain. By the time they started the ship the Seymour-blob would be out of the ground and have attracted all of the thunder.

A soft beeping reached my ears and I almost reached for the Commsphere, when I realized the noise was coming from Rikku. She pressed a finger to her ear - and her Celsisus' Commdevice, I had forgotten she had.

"_Rammu_?"


	14. Blood

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

* * *

"_Rammu_?" I asked in the resceiver. Last time I checked we were too far from the Celsius to get a signal. Tidus and Gippal turned to me, occasionally glancing at the rising Seymour-thing. (Hello?)

"Rikku!" Brother's voice screamed at me. I winced and grabbed my ear. "_Frana yna oui_?!_ Fa'ja paah muugehk ajanofnana_!" (Where are you?! We've been looking everywhere!

"Well, obviously not everywhere or you would have found me. Did you check Bikanel?" I asked calmly into the receiver, hoping Brother wouldn't start screaming again.

He let out a loud yell and said something to someone, covering the receiver. He came back on with a sigh. "The others want to talk with you, too. Do you have your Commsphere?"

"Oh...I dunno where that went, it kinda....flew away...."

"Rikku." Gippal said slowly gesturing at the giant blob, it was almost out of the hole and we would have to start making a plan soon.

"I have to go, Brother. Can we talk later? Things are kind of....disatirific here..."

"Disatirific?" Brother echoed, obviously remembering when I had used that word before. "Where are you, Rikku? We can help!"

"What's that? Oh, you're breaking up. I love you, bro! Talk to you later!" I yelled into the receiver before yanking it out of my ear and throwing it behind a lightning rod.

Turning to the large creature before us, I ignored the thunder claps around me. The creature's form almsot resembled a giant centaur. But instead of a horse's body, there was a Bahamuth King's body with an Adamatoise's spikes and tail. It had Demonth's skeletal arms and both of the Gemini's swords. The body was the same as Seymour Natus, even with the strange metal thing on it's back. The creature was actually quite hidious... But, it wasn't much taller than the lightning rods.

Just then a large, familiar ship soared towards us, expertly swerving around the large creature and opening the hatch when it wasn't far from us. One of Gippal's crew dropped the large Machina canon and quickly closed the hatch. It disappeared back in the direction it had come: Guadosalam. Gippal let out a low whistle and appreciatively placed the canon on his shoulder.

The demented creature gave a loud laugh - which still gave me the shivers. "Very well. I will give you your death. You seem to want it so..." He let out a loud roar and the front two Bahamuth King legs spread out and the thing fell into a crouch.

I let a magic circle appear under me - copying Tidus - and felt the familiar pulling feeling.

I yelled. "Scan." At the exact moment Tidus yelled "Hastaga!" Our bodies filled with a sudden speed and feeling of invincibilities. I turned to my friends.

"It's called Seymour Alpha....it's weakness is Blizzard and it's strong with Fire. Special attack is Shattering Claw, Flare and it can use Cura, too. It's immune to everything but poisen! You guys distract it!" I jabbed the Black Mage node and began casting.

"You heard the lady!" Tidus called over the roar of Seymour Alpha. His footsteps faded quickly - telling me that he was running towards our enemy - and he let out a battle cry.

I hesitated and cancelled the spell, rushing forward and grabbing Gippal's arm before he could follow Tidus. I stepped in front of him, stood on my tip-toes and pressed my lips to his. I pulled back slowly and bit my lip.

"Thanks for standing by me, Gippal. It means a lot to me." I said softly, turning to start casting again.

His hand closed on my arm before I could call the circle again, he spun me around so I slammed into his chest. His lips pressed againt mine and I melted into his touch. When air became a problem he pulled away with a gasp and grinned down at me, I smiled weakly at him - my knees had suddenly become jelly.

"Geez, Rikku. The world as we know it is falling apart and you leave me with a peck?" He shook his head as if he was disappointed in me. "I though I taught you better?"

"What and you think yours was good?" I countered. Lyring through my teeth, yes, but, oh-so effective.

He raised an eyebrow is disbelief. "What? Oh, now you've asked for it." He was about to grab me again but I pulled away and pointed at the blond swordsman. He had stopped a few meters from us - when he realized Gippal wasn't following - and was looking off in every direction but ours, his face was a bright red color.

"Go help him, Gippal! Distract, now." I said softly, slipping around him to start casting.

"Later?" Gippal asked expectantly.

"Only if you come back to me." I said, softening my voice conciderably but keeping my eyes closed to keep casting.

He barked a laugh. "Same to you, Rikku!" He turned to follow Tidus towards the large creature.

The familiar pull of Black Magic surged through me and I called. "Bio!"

I yanked my Dressphere out and looked at all the nodes. Which would help with this guy? I let out a groan and switched back to Thief. It didn't take me long to reach Tidus and Gippal. The former was standing in the middle of the fiends path and holding his sword up defensively. Gippal had - somehow - pulled himself onto a lighting rod and was firing his canon at the creature angrily. I ran up to Tidus - slightly breathless.

"What's the plan, Tidus?" I asked, holding my daggers in front of me and falling into a defensive crouch. "I have all the Dresspheres possible for me, should I keep thief?"

Tidus glanced over at me for a moment and hesitated. He shook his head. "I don't want either of you risking the chance of getting hurt, switch to Gunner and get onto one of the lightning rods like Gippal."

A soft thump behind me alerted us to Gippal's arrival. He stepped up to us and casually set his canon on the ground.

"Not such a good idea, Blondie." He said calmly, leaning against a close Lightning rod. "Rikku's terrified of thunder, you saw her. She's fine now, but I don't think she'd be able to handle it up there.... right, Rikku?"

I shook my head and turned to Tidus. "I can still use my Black Mage Dressphere, you know? Then I'll cast Blizzaga alot! We'll get him in no time!"

Tidus seemed annoyed with that, but nodded. "Fine, but if he comes after you, I want you to run until he stops moving, okay?" He paused before adding. "Whichever is your fastest Dressphere, switch to that and then run."

I nodded and switched back to my Black Mage Garment Grid. The large pink hat obscured my view of the lightning, so that was an added bonus! No horrible distractions today, universe!

"Ready, Rikku?" Gippal called over to me, from his position behind a Lightning rod. I nodded so he grinned and launched another cannon at the creature. "Hey, Rikku? I know this probably isn't your idea of a great first date, but wanna start over? From before?"

It didn't take an expert to figure out he meant from before I broke your heart. I grinned back and nodded. "Sure, nothing better to do. _Blizzaga_!" I called back sarcastically.

"Great." He cleared his throat and launched another cannon at the creature. "Hi! My name's Gippal!"

"Rikku." I copied, trying to force back a smile as I started another casting circle.

He laughed. "Come here often?"

I giggled at that and launched another Blizzaga spell at Seymour Alpha. Tidus was running around the bottom of the creature and hacking away at it - taking the advantage of his Hastga spell. Gippal and I kept sending our attacks at it, but the thing didn't seem fazed at all.

"You're asking for it!" Tidus screamed, holding his sword in front of him to concentrate. He jumped forward and used the Bahamuth king's right leg as leverage to push himself higher up. He swung his sword forward, with thousands of pyrefly looking spheres. They all smashed into the ground and burst out - sending Seymour Alpha flying backward slightly, but not much. "Energy Rain!"

I grinned at the familiarity of that attack and started casting another spell. Gippal laughed.

"So...Rikku, was it? How would you like to go on a date sometime?" He asked calmly, steadying the canon on his shoulder. "When are you free?"

"_Blizzaga_!" I called out, holding my Black Mage weapon above my head. A large freezing snow attack smashed into the creature and I turned to Gippal with a barely concealed smile. "I'm not doing much right now." I added sarcastically.

"Great!" He shouted back over the explosion of his canon.

A voice snapped us out of our conversation. "Will you two stop _flirting _and start helping me?!" Tidus yelled at us, holding his sword up to emphasize his point.

We grinned at each other but complied. I pulled my Dressphere out and let my finger hop between the Thief and Samurai nodes, before finally settling on Gunner. Tidus sent me an annoyed look but I just shrugged nonchalantly, sending him a 'carry-on' gesture at Seymour Alpha. He rolled his eyes and laughed before turning back to our opponent.

Gippal set his canon on his shoulder and started to aim. I held my gun in both hands to help keep a steady grip and to aim - though it'd be pretty embarassing if someone missed _this _thing.

A loud explosion sounded to my right and I started firing. Using the main attack of the Gunner Dressphere: Trigger Happy - and my personal favourite. Though Paine and Yuna prefered something with more security and strength - in Paine's case - I loved the feeling of unlimited attack power. Who cares if the damage level wasn't much? Quantity over Quality, you know? The multiple shots exloded from the barrel of my gun and smashed into Seymour.

Tidus was running forward again, his sword held high above his head. Seymour lifted its front legs and smashed them into the ground close to Tidus - too close in my opinion - but the blond swordsman kept running. He swung a few times at the large legs, but didn't stab until he had gotten close enough to jump up to the creatures chest.

Seymour let out a cry of pain and made a swatting motion at Tidus, but the big swords delayed the skeletal arms speed and that gave my friend enough time to get out of there. The second he was a safe distance - and me and Gippal had succecfully delayed the creature enough to get away - he began to cast, but only when the creatures attention was focused on us.

"Ultima!" Tidus called out.

His attack slammed into Seymour, but still caused little to no damage. I kept firing until a soft clicking noise replaced the familiar gunshots. I reloaded as fast as I could possibly do - which was fast, considering all the practise Paine forced me and Yuna into. By the time I had leveled the guns with the creature again, it was too late.

It was focused completely on me, it's small eyes narrowed and even from this distance I could see the plan unfolding in his head. Kill the weakest link and put the other two in so much anger they wouldn't be able to fight properly....great.... just my luck that I happened to be the weakest link.

It let out a loud roar and started charging me, it would reach me in no time - considering the Gemini's swords length - and easily crush me with one of the blades. But, to my confusion, it stopped short and shoved both swords into the ground.

We all stood watching warily. Tidus was closer to the creature than us and it would take a long time to reach him, Gippal wasn't far from me, but it'd still take a while to reach him, too. Whatever Seymour was planning, we were on our own.

The ground not far from me began to shake and quiver, as if something was trying to burst out. Tidus and Gippal both focused on that point - ignoring the tempoairily defenseless enemy. A part of me insisted on yelling at them to attack, but another just wanted to yell..... for help....

The dirt and rocks burst aside and a large, green tentacle burst from the ground.... directly at me. Panic and adrenaline flooded through my veins, but my feet were stuck to the ground.

"Rikku, run!" Tidus was screaming at me, waving his sword to get my attention. "Get out of there, Rikku! You need to run! Jump, run, just get out of there, Rikku! _Run_!"

"Rikku, get down!" That sentance confused me greatly. I couldn't figure out why Gippal would tell me that when the root-like tentacle was coming _out_ of the ground in the first place. Tidus' next words confused me, as well.

"Gippal, _no_!"

I turned.

Everything after that moment was in slow-motion. It was like the universe was angry at me for some reason and wanted me to live that moment as long as possible.

Gippal slammed into me, shoving me aside with all his might. His canon crashed to the ground next to me and by the time I had turned around, the root had dug deep into his side and he was falling.... towards me. Gippal slammed into me again - knocking the air out of my lungs - but neither of us moved this time. I gasped a few times until I trusted that my lungs had a good breath of air in them. Gippal was gasping painfully as well, he tried to push himself up but his strength left him and he didn't move....he didn't move.... just laid on me.... unmoving.

"Gippal...?" I breathed quietly, scared of the answer he might give.

"Gippal! Rikku!" Tidus was screaming from some far off, distant place.

"Gippal, come on...." I said slowly, pulling my arms from under him and trying to shake his shoulders. "C'mon, this isn't funny. Say something, Gippal..."

He didn't respond. All I heard was Tidus' screaming and the Seymour-creatures angry laughing. "Get up, you two! Get out of there!" The swordsman screamed, panic flooding his words.

"Come on, Gippal.... Wake up...." I breathed, a quiver entering my voice. "Come on.... say something.... call me Cid's Girl....please, Gippal....anything.....just don't die...._please_."

All I was aware of after that was the sudden wet, sticky feeling on my stomach.

I glanced down to look at the red stain coating my belly....

"No..."


	15. Compassion

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

* * *

For a long time, all I knew was the pain. The horrible pain of the injury in my stomach. It burned, it burned so much I'm pretty positive there was a poisen on the root-thing. But after a while - and I'm not sure how long, pain seems to pull things out - a warm, pleasant, tingling feeling spread across my injury in waves. After every wave the wound felt better than it had before. The first few did next to nothing, but the next ten or so made me feel better.... it was a nice feeling. But, when the pain from the injury had vanished, the tingling sensation stopped and I was left with a cold desolate feeling. Not such a great trade, even if most - if not all - of the pain was gone.

The only thing I could feel was something digging painfully into my back and a soft something or other on the back on my head. Like a pillow or cushion, something warm like that, but softer. There was some loud noise going on close to me, but all I focused on was the soft touch against the back of my head. All I wanted was to grab the softness and hold onto it forever.

My eyes started opening when a metallic clang sounded. The first picture I got wasn't what I expected - a dark hell-like abyss had crossed my mind - but a dingy grey, white, and yellow fuzz. It was like someone hadn't focused the sphere enough and everything was coming in blobs. Blinking brought things back into a better focus and I was able to make out shapes. The grey was familiar and obviously my surroundings - not the hell I had pictured. The white was a intricate white gown with orange and dark purple embroideries. The yellow wasn't yellow, but blond. A yellow, red and purple loose headband framed a blond head perfectly, showing a small amount of her normal blue headband. A few of her blond braids and bangs were hanging across her face and were smoothed to her face with tears. Her swirly green eyes were focused on something in front of her.

I was laying on my back, on an uneven surface and had a rock digging into my spine. My head was placed comfortablely on Rikku's lap. Her left hand was rested on my forehead, but her right holding onto her staff - which was sticking out of the ground next to her.

I shifted slightly but she didn't move a muscle. It wasn't until I cleared my throat did she look down. Relief spread across her features - replacing the concern I had seen.

"Oh thank Spira." Rikku breathed, leaning forward slightly so I could feel her breath brush again my cheek. She pulled back and looked at me. "Are you feeling okay? Do you need anything?"

I shook my head and glanced behind her when a flash of light appeared and she flinched. Her back was pressed against a lightning rod tower - as was my canon. The loud crashes farther off indicated the raging battle still taking place. Rikku took a deep breath - to calm herself from the lightning - and lifted my head off her lap and onto a small pillow she had made from my jacket.

"I'm going to go help Tidus now, is there anything you need while I'm here?" She asked, trying to put on a brave act, but I could see the terror in her eyes as she pulled out her Dressphere.

I sat up slowly.

Tidus was barely keeping Seymour's attention on him and obviously just distracting him from us. He would dodge every attack our opponent sent at him - until Seymour looked him our direction, then he'd charge and slash at him to regain his attention. He seemed majorly tired out. Rikku cast a Curaga on him before pressing another node on her Dressphere. Her form brightened considerably before her Warrior Dressphere was revealed. She looked down at me and tightened her grip on her sword.

"I'll be back when I'm done, okay? Then we'll take you to a better healer. We might just have to get Yuna to look at the wound..." She murmured. That, alone, showed the severity of the situation - Rikku always called Yuna, Yunie. _Always_.

I shook my head and used the tower to pull myself up. "There's no way I'm letting you two fight this alone. You two have never fought in groups less than three, you need me to help." I said calmly, grabbing my canon.

"Gippal!" She protested, annoyance flashing across her face. "You're injured! I was barely able to keep you alive! I don't think I'll be able to do that again, Gippal, you know? What will I do if you or Tidus get hurt, huh?"

I grabbed her shoulders. "Rikku! Me and Tidus aren't the only ones in danger! You're here, too!" I took a deep breath to calm myself. "That's why I need to help fight - the more of us there are, the more chance of survival."

She gulped and looked away from me weakly. Her hands were both shaking.

"You're our only healer, Rikku! If anything, _you_ should sit out." She shot me a look and I laughed weakly. "See? Doesn't feel good to be un-included, does it?"

Rikku bit her lip - probably to keep from yelling - and turned away from me. "If it hurts at all, tell me. It might be breaking open, you know?" She turned back to me with fresh tears in her eyes. "Promise?"

"Yeah." I agreed, stepping forward to walk past her. She pressed a hand against my chest and didn't let go until I looked into her eyes.

"Promise me."

I sighed before nodding. "I promise you, Rikku, I won't over-exert myself at all."

Rikku smiled and lifted the large sword onto her shoulder, she ran down the small incline around the tower and towards Tidus. I followed, towing my large cannon behind me. When I was close enough to hear my companions voices shouting - suggestions at each other - I stopped and leveled the canon with the creature. When I found an estimates vital spot I fired and continued that process - barely focusing on my aiming after that and on my friends instead.

"Tidus, use Blitz Ace! I'll distract him!" Rikku called, rushing forward with her Warrior Sword.

Tidus grinned and charged up another spell, while Rikku and I shot numerous attacks at the demented creature.

"Here we go!" Tidus shouted.

He leapt towards the enemy and launched eight perfect attacks at the enemy. When he landed again, he stabbed his sword in the ground and used that as leverage to push himself into the air again. He grinned down at Rikku - who had taken a Blitzball from him before - and she launched it up at him. He pulled his leg back and smashed it into the large blue sports ball. The Blitzball shot towards the enemy and smashed straight into it's chest, successfully knocking him backwards. The creature hit the ground hard and let out a loud grunt of pain.

Tidus and Rikku hurried back over to me, just when the laughing started.

Tidus stood slightly in front of me and Rikku, holding his sword out in a defensive position. Rikku switched to her thief Dressphere and I readied my cannon. Seymour Alpha slowly pushed himself off the ground with a maniacle laugh. It was really creepy. So creepy that Rikku actually pulled back slightly and slipped behind me, grabbing onto my arm. It made me feel good.

"Do you really believe that would have hurt?!" He bellowed, letting out a roar of rage. He grabbed the large Gemini swords off the ground and held them out towards us angrily. "Your hope ends here! And your meaningless existence with it! _Shattering Claw_!"

He swung both his swords and streaks of energy blasts - in the shape of a claw - shot towards us. I shoved my cannon into the ground, pushed Tidus behind a lightning rod and pulled Rikku to my chest. I fell into a sitting position behind my weapon with Rikku pressed to my chest tightly. She had grabbed fistfulls of my shirt in fear and had her eyes closed. I copied her and closed my eyes.

A strong gust of wind was the only thing that told me the attack had passed. Opening my eyes revealed large craters on either side of my cannon. Four large marks scared the hard rock surface from the path his blades had created. Four marks that made it looked like a creature had dragged it's claws across the earth's surface. The first mark went directly into the tower that Tidus was hiding behind and stopped, then next was just to the right of it and the last two spread beside me and Rikku.

Tidus let out a low whistle. "Well.... That was enough adrenaline to last a while..." His voice was strained as he turned to us with a grin. "What do you say? Should we finish this?"

Rikku nodded against my chest weakly. "Do you have anything in mind?" She countered, twisting her neck so her cheek was pressed against my chest and she could see Tidus.

He grinned and gestured for us to come closer. I quickly grabbed my cannon's handle and shoved Rikku towards the tower, running behind her pulling my cannon. We reached it without any sound from the giant ugly guy. Rikku sat down with her back pressed against the tower and leaned sideways slightly - trying to get a glimpse of our opponent.

Tidus laughed weakly. "Okay, I'm going to use Energy Rain on him again, cause I don't think I have enough energy for Blitz Ace. I'm going to aim for his chest, cause he seemed alot worse off when you hit him there, Gippal." He took a deep breath and shoved his sword into the ground. "After I've hit him, I want you two to launch your strongest attacks there. Rikku, get ready to run up his legs like a ladder before I hit him, it'll take you a while, just hack at him until he gets annoyed and tries to hit you off. Gippal, keep shooting at him unless me and Rikku are in the way, okay? Try and use a faster shooter, or something that will do alot of damage."

I grinned and shook my head.

"What?" Tidus demanded, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You think you could do better?"

"Nah." I muttered, leaning my canon against the tower and reaching into my pocket. "I have a better plan for me."

* * *

A few minutes later, we were all set. Me and Rikku had snuck around to opposite lightning towers at either side of Seymour Alpha. Tidus waited at for our waves before stepping out into the open. We both watched as he began charging up his attack.

We couldn't hear what he said from this far away, but we saw him start to run. Seymour attempted to swat him away, but the swordsman expertly dodged and used the arm as leverage to push himself off the ground. Me and Rikku exchanged a quick glance before darting towards the creatures legs. She had both her daggers held in front of her and I had pulled out my knife. With a quick flick of my thumb, the blade flicked out farther and kept unfolding until it was the length of my arm. We were both at the knees by now and Tidus had shot the enery blasts towards Seymour's heart. I easily set the locks on each joint of the blade so it wouldn't flick back into pocket size when I was fighting. We were at the beginning of the torso, when he launched in the air. Using our blades to keep a good grip helped until he landed again, then we both started moving.

Rikku reached the injury point first and dug one dagger into the skin nearby - with a weak wince - and started slashing at the open wound with the other one. I used the last bit of Bahamuth King fur as leverage to launch myself higher and dig my blade into the open skin. It wasn't long before gravity took over and I started to fall, but I kept my blade at an angle - so it would slice the skin on my way down and slow my descent. Rikku slowly shrunk from my view and - thankfully - my tearing blade was more painfull to him than her daggers.

He aimed all his hits at me and - thanks to gravity - every single one missed. When he finally realized Rikku was the easier target, she had pushed herself off the creature and was free falling down. She grabbed onto the Gemini blade and slid down the rest of the way on that.

Seymour Alpha's screams of pain were starting to get painful for me, so I let my blade slip out and I fell the rest of the way - using the pressure from my fall - I pushed myself harder to get back to my companions.

"Life....is but a passing dream...." Seymour hissed out.

Rikku winced when his form began to shift. The fiend parts began pulling back into the black blob they had originated from. When there was no view of any of the creature it had been, the blob began shrinking suddenly. It took a while, but - when the blob was the same size as us - we walked forward cautiously.

The black material began disolving and was slowly replaced by a pale looking Maester Seymour Guado. He fell to his knees weakly and looked up at us.

"...the death that follows..." He coughed weakly and blood spattered out of his mouth, Rikku flinched away from him. "...is eternal... Spira's only salvation.... is des...truc...tion..."

Tidus sighed softly and held out his blade to me. "Seymour was right about one thing." The swordsman said slowly, smiling at me and Rikku. "It's your job now, Gippal."

I looked at the blade before understanding cross me. Gently as I could, I turned Rikku around and pushed her toward Tidus. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, to hide her from this. Rikku had her eyes shut and was covering her ears weakly. Tidus just glanced at me over his shoulder weakly.

Seymour's almost lifeless eyes looked up at me. Without even thinking about it, I pulled the sword above my head and stabbed forward.

Rikku and Tidus winced when the stabbing noise echoed around the valley.

I let my fingers slip off the handle. "It's not my place to end someones life." I growled out. "Not even with someone who deserves it..."

Both my companions turned around. Tidus looked down at his sword - sticking out of the ground a foot or so away from Seymour - and smiled up at me. Rikku pulled away from her friend and crashed into my chest, all but collapsing againt me.

"Can we stop fighting now, please?" She asked weakly into my chest, her voice slightly muffled by my shirt.

I laughed as I watched Tidus pull his sword out of the ground and into its holster. "Yeah, Rikku. Whatever you say." I murmured, pressing my face against her head softly and inhaling the distinct smell of her shampoo. "I didn't know you liked strawberries."

She giggled lightly and turned to look at her friend.

Tidus was grinning smugly at us - which looked ridiculous, considering what had just happened. He winked. "Well, don't you two make the cozy little couple?" He laughed happily and grabbed Seymour's arm. "Hmm.... I wonder what Cid and Brother will say. Hey, Gippal, help me with this guy, alright?"

I sighed and let my arms slip away from Rikku to help him drag Seymour the rest of the way to Guadosalam. Tidus started up a conversation half-way there.

"Hey, Rikku? Yuna told me that you were over your fear of lightning, was she lying?" He asked conversationally.

Rikku looked up at the sky and frowned. "No, I told her I was over it." She smiled sheepishly at us. "But, I may have expanded the truth a bit, you know?"

"How so?" Tidus asked, looking over at her. "She said you spent a week here."

"Well, I was going to, but got too scared and asked Brother to pick me up." She murmured, waving her hand airily and looking at a lightning tower. "We met Paine not long after that."

Rikku hurried toward the nearby lightning tower and grabbed something off the ground. She held it to her ear and grinned, rushing back to us.

She held it to out to us happily. "I can't believe it didn't break, you know? I don't think they turned their end off, cause I can stil hear them." She said, showing us the Commdevice in her hand. She placed it back in her ear. "_Rammu_? Hello? Anybody there?" (Hello)

She frowned and smiled happily as we walked through the Guadosalam entrance. A few Guado were standing nearby and clapping for us - but most had probably taken refuge in their houses. We waved at them happily and continued dragging the half-dead Seymour to the Inn and the only location of a Commsphere - Rikku's wasn't meant for anything other than communication with the Celsius and our Cellspheres had fallen out somewhere.

Rikku started laughing when we reached the Inn. "You have got to listen to this. The Celsius must be stationed near Guadosalam, cause LeBlanc and them are there and their all talking nervously. Paine is argueing with Brother - which is weird cause it's not like her to be that much..... like me, you know? Yuna and Buddy are talking to Logos, to try and figure out what their talking about. Apparently that whole thing kinda trametized them." She giggled lightly and held the door open for me and Tidus.

We manuevered Seymour inside - both keeping a firm grip on his arms - and Rikku hurried over to the Commsphere. She jabbed a few buttons and an annoyed looking red-head answered.

"New Yevon, how may I help you?" He asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Rikku grinned at me as if saying 'take it away.'

I stepped beside her and placed a hand on the back of her chair lightly. "Yeah, I'm Gippal: Leader of the Machine Faction. I need to speak with Praeter Baralai, _now_. Tell him who it is and that it's urgent, alright?"

The Innkeeper came over nervously. "Um... that is only for paying customers, sir." The Guado said weakly, glancing between my torn-up, bloody shirt and the half-dead Maester.

Tidus cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Yeah, could I have the biggest room you have available, hopefully more than two beds?" He asked weakly and led the Innkeeper off to talk business.

"Sir, the Praeter is sleeping, do you know what time it is?" The receptionist asked, annoyance coating his words.

"Just tell Baralai that Gippal needs to talk with him, he'll be PO'd if you don't tell him, alright? So, just listen to me or I'll keep calling back until you get him. I can be as annoying as you make me, so just get Baralai and we'll forget this even happened." I said calmly, pulling up another chair and pushing it next to Rikku's.

The guy paused before calling to someone off screen. He turned back weakly with a yawn.

"Praeter Baralai will be with you in a moment, sir." The guy disappeared off screen and I grinned at Rikku.

"See? That's the real workings of democracy...." I paused, as if thinking of something, before adding. "And a great way to annoy your friends. That's also a great reason for them not to tell you their home Sphere lines."

She laughed happily. "That's why my friends don't tell me." It was her turn to pause thoughtfully. "And probably because I don't _have_ a home Sphere line."

I was about to retort but the screen flickered and switched to Baralai's personal Commsphere.

"Gippal?" He asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes weakly. "What are you d-" His eyes widened when he saw the blood on my shirt. "What happened to you?!"

I glanced at Rikku and shrugged. "Not too much, you?" I responded nonchalantly, leaning back in my chair. Baralai blinked at me in confusion. "Listen, Baralai, I have a person here who's just asking for a prison cell and I figured you'd want first dibs, but I can always call someone else if you're busy."

Baralai shook his head, glancing between me and Rikku before answering. "No, no... Who is it that you have?" He paused slightly and narrowed his eyes. "And why would I want first dibs, Gippal?"

I raised an eye brow and looked over my shoulder. "That's simple, my friend, its because this person has caused a lot of grief for the Yevon community. He is probably the only one who made it hard for you to start up New Yevon."

He sighed and shook his head. "Who, Gippal?"

I grinned and calmly placed an arm over the back of Rikku's chair. "Maester Seymour Guado."


	16. Horrors

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

* * *

"Maester Seymour Guado." Gippal said simply, a hint of smugness creeping into his voice. Now that I think about it, that's probably the only reason he wanted to call Baralai: Bragging rights.

"Oh, is that so?" Baralai asked, his tone completely uninterested. I couldn't tell if he was too tired to understand the significance or was just humoring Gippal. He turned to me and I subconsiously stiffened. "How are you, Rikku? I heard that you had been kidnapped."

I shrugged. "Lemme guess, one of the Gullwings told you that?" I asked. He nodded and I sighed, trying not to grab my side when a sudden pain shot through my injury. "Yeah, I may have done something... that I normally wouldn't have and left on Gippal's ship. I can see where they're coming from, but this stuff was my idea as much as his."

Baralai raised an eyebrow. "This 'stuff?' Can I ask what _stuff_ you are talking about?" He asked calmly, looking between the two of us.

"You sound like my grandfather, Baralai." Gippal scoffed at the same moment I muttered. "You won't believe us."

He smiled at me, completely ignoring his friend's comment. "Try me, Rikku."

"Well.... um...." I glanced over my shoulder at Tidus, Seymour and the Innkeeper. "It'll be easier if you see for yourself, you know? It's very complicated."

Baralai shrugged nonchalantly. "It is a long flight to Guadosalam and we will be picking Nooj up on the way, I have time for details." He waved to someone off screen. "Could you send a Commsphere message to Meyvn Nooj of the Youth League and please tell him that we have some business to attend in Guadosalam?" He turned back to me and Gippal. "Well?"

"Um....Well.... We.....kind of found a sphere..." I said slowly, glancing at Gippal.

"Yeah!" Gippal joined in. "And it _kinda _had a lot of important crap on it and we _kinda _of went to find out if the important crap was real and then we _kinda _went all over Spira and _kinda _fought an evil that probably exceded Vegnagun. Oh! And Rikku kinda pulled Shinra's pants down!" He grinned happily at the screen.

"Is that true, Rikku?" Baralai asked, blinking in confusion.

"In a nut shell." I murmured, burying my face in my hands, trying to hide the wince when I bent my wound the wrong way. It must have been opened or something when Gippal fell on me. "And the last part you won't believe no matter how many ways we say it, you might not even believe it when you see him.... them." I corrected.

Baralai rolled his eyes again and stood up. "We'll be right there, you two." His tone told us that he didn't believe either of us and was just coming to make sure we weren't hurt.... or dilusional...

"Oh yeah! We're staying at a room in Guadosalam." Gippal told his friend, looking over his shoulder at Tidus who was mouthing out numbers to him. He tossed me the key card and I handed it to Gippal. "Room... 35S, I guess. So, we'll tell the Innkeeper you're coming and to just let you in, alright?"

"Alright. Gippal, watch yourself. From the way Paine was talking about the Gullwings the last time we talked, it sounds like they're on a war path for your blood. She is, too. Are you sure you didn't hurt Rikku? I mean, anything that you did around them that could be considered kidnapping?" He asked, with a sigh.

Gippal leaned forward, all joking had left his voice and his face was so serious it kind of scared me. "I would _never_ hurt Rikku. I would _never_ do anything that she didn't want, and I wouldn't have stayed on this trip if it hadn't meant I would be putting Rikku in danger by doing so." He ground out, glaring daggers at his friend as if Baralai himself had suggested the kidnapping idea.

I stiffened at the sudden internsity of Gippal's tone. It scared me, in a strange sort of way. My face started getting warm and I could see it was red - in my reflection on the Commsphere. I stood up nervously and decided to help Tidus drag Seymour to the room. But, Baralai's voice reached us before we left.

"She finally forgave you, huh, Gippal? Congratulations."

Tidus grabbed Seymour's right arm and pulled most of his weight up the stairs, quickly starting a conversation up with me.

"I'm not sure if we should heal him, but if we leave him he'll die and that's most of our proof done right there." Tidus was telling me quickly, as he maneuvered the half-dead Maester around the corner. "But if we do heal him, he might just escape and try to grab you again. I'm afraid that he might succed this time.... what do you think, Rikku?"

I shrugged, hoping the red had faded from my face. "I dunno, I guess I could heal him and just use something that causes sleep." I murmured.

"That may work..." Tidus stared at me for a second before grinning. "So....what do you think of Gippal?"

I stumbled and almost fell flat on my face, but was able to hold onto the Maester's arm for support. "Wha?" I asked in disbelief straightening out. "Are you serious? Do you really wanna talk boys with me? Isn't that a girlfriends job?"

He laughed and pulled the card key out when we got close enough. "I can be a gay guy if you want." He cleared his throat, and when he spoke again he had the gay-guy accent. "Look at the ass on that piece of man-candy."

I was barely able to stifle a giggle behind my hand. He always knew how to cheer me up - whether we were on Gagazet, about to be attacked, or in an Inn dragging a half-dead Maester to our room. "Thanks, Tidus."

He laughed again and held the door open for me. "No problem, Rikku. Just chill out, okay? If it's meant to be, then it'll be." He said calmly, dropping Seymour into a close-by arm chair.

The room was large. It had a bathroom to the left of the door and a closet to the right. There was a large living room-type thing ahead of us with a love seat and a three seater couch. A simple coffee table was in the middle facing a Commsphere - for browsing the news, I guess. There was a door next to the Commsphere that you could see two plush-looking beds inside.

Tidus laughed. "Biggest room they had." He gestured towards the bed room. "I figured you and Gippal would be more worn out than I would be, so you guys can take those and I'll take the pull out." He sat on the two-seater for emphasis.

I shook my head lightly. "No, no. We'll decide when Gippal gets here." I flopped down next to him and leaned on his shoulder. "I'm glad you're back, Tidus. You mean so much to.... everyone...."

He nodded and wrapped an arm around my shoulders - in a brotherly way. "I missed you all, too." He barked a laugh. "You know, if you think about it you're kinda the world's number one target, now."

I shifted so I could see his face. "Huh?"

"Well, think about it. You're one of my closest friends, Yuna's cousin and Guardian, Cid's daughter, Brother's sister, and now Gippal's girlfriend. If someone kidnapped you they'd have half the world under their control..." He laughed and leaned back. "We're going to have to get you a bodyguard, Rikku."

"Planning my kidnapping, Tidus?" I shook my head softly and closed my eyes. My friends were weird....

It wasn't long before I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up, the room's door had just closed and Seymour was knocked out in the chair. Gippal stepped up to us calmly and looked at Tidus, not me. My eyes must not have been as open as I thought...

"Is she sleeping?" Gippal asked quietly, sitting on the coffee table.

Tidus nodded, moving his arm from around my shoulders. "You two can take the beds, I'm on the pull-out." Tidus said quietly, trying to keep me asleep.

Gippal nodded, to tired to argue with him. He stepped towards me and pulled me into his arms, turning to Tidus. "Do you need help with...um... pulling it out?" He whispered back.

Tidus shook his head and gestured towards the bedroom.

Gippal's arms tightened around me when he stepped through the doorway. His leg moved and I heard the sheets ruffling on one of the beds - he must be using his foot to move it. He placed me gently on the bed and pulled the blankets up. My eyes were closed again by then, but I heard the bedsprings creaking on the other bed and silence followed. The sound of rustling paper caught my attention, so I turned onto my side. Gippal was sitting with the small box my mother had given him on his lap. The lid was open and he had a piece of paper in his hand. He stared at the note quietly for a minute before glancing at me. It was too dark for him to see me at all. He turned back to the box and pulled something else out - again, it was too dark to see.

So, I decided to make my presence known. I shifted and slowly pushed myself into a sitting position. "What's going on, Gippal?" I asked sleepily, not even faking the sleepy part.

Gippal's head darted in my direction and he shoved the note and the other thing into the box. "Rikku..." He sighed, letting his head fall for a minute. "Um.... You were asleep when I got back...." He explained hastily and gestured at the room. "Tidus said this room had our names on it."

I nodded weakly and gestured at the note. "That's from my mother, right?" I asked softly, hoping the quiver of pain wouldn't enter my voice.

He nodded sadly. "Yeah... I'm sorry, Rikku. I shoulda waited until you weren't around."

I looked up at him in surprise. "Huh? Why would I be mad about that? I was just asking, Gippal." Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my own box. "See? She gave me one, too.... well, actually three. But, the other two are for Brother and _Vydran_."

I slipped the lid of my box and peered inside. Gippal sighed and looked back at his nervously. My box had a small note folded in the bottom and a square jewerlery box. I took the box first - it was on top - and slipped it open. I gasped and almost dropped it.

A pure gold necklace was laying against the silk. Each link was braided with the next ones, so the entire necklace was like braided gold. At the middle of the chain was an emerald that had been cut into a swirl. It was like Al Bhed pupil's except green - like our eyes. I pulled the note out.

_Rikku,_

_I am so proud of you and I cannot stress that enough. You have grown from that shy little girl to a vibrant young woman in such a short time. You have survived so many dangers, so many that most wouldn't believe me. Please, do not feel sad about my death, Sweetheart, because it will only haunt me if I know you are crying because of me. I'm not stupid, I know that people need time to grieve and please, Dear, please don't try to hide it again. You're friends can't help you if you won't tell them somethings wrong. But, you now have someone who you can go to with your problems. Gippal is a bright young man and your perfect half. He is in love with you, darling, and he will do anything humanly possible to protect you. I'm sure you've seen that already. Please, I want you to be happy. Gippal is just the person that makes you happy._

_Give your father and brother the other two boxes I have given you and don't forget that I will never stop loving you, Sweetie. No matter how old you get, you will always be the smart little girl who wouldn't let go of my hand for anything. And please tell Gippal that Cid is not you're only parent, you are my little girl as much as you are his._

_Be proud of who you are and never, never be ashamed of your Al Bhed heritage. _

_Know that - by the time you and Brother have joined me - the other dead people will hate me, because I won't stop bragging about how amazing my children are._

_I love you, my daughter._

_Be strong._

_Love: Your mother._

_P.S. Your grandmother gave me the necklace when I was your age, it's been passed down in our family for years (only girls though)._

Gippal looked up at me expectantly when I dropped the note. Tears were streaming down my face by that time. He stepped over to me and sat next to me on the bed.

"That's beautiful, Rikku." He said softly.

I nodded weakly and leaned against his chest lightly. "I miss her so much." I breathed.

He laid his forehead against the top of my head and sighed softly. "I know, Rikku...I know..." He breathed.

* * *

I don't remember falling asleep, but I woke up to sun shining through the window. Gippal was snoring softly next to me - he must have fallen asleep too - and had his arms wrapped around me. I could hear Tidus in the other room, moving around and humming the Fayth's hymn. His footsteps were getting closer - he must be coming to wake us up. So, I pushed myself away from Gippal's chest and crawled off the bed. Gippal shifted and pulled himself into a sitting position.

"What's goin' on?" He asked sleepily, yawning loudly.

I pressed a finger to my lips and closed the curtains. "Tidus." I said gesturing to the door.

Gippal seemed confused, but then realization dawned on his face. I must have fallen asleep first, which means he knew exactly where he was all night. He laughed nervously and I narrowed my eyes. But, before I could say anything, the door creaked open.

"Hey, guys, time to wake-" Tidus paused when he saw us both, fully alert and obviously having a conversation. His eyes travelled between us then finally landed on the un-slept in bed. He grinned widely and smirked at us. "You two do realize I was in the next room, right?"

My face warmed considerably. "No, no, no, no! Tidus, we didn't- I mean, nothing happened! I, um.... We didn't...." I spluttered nervously, watching as my best friend laughed happily.

"I was just kidding, Rikku. Calm down. You probably just made your bed, right?" He asked with a wink, as he left. "There's a breakfast thing downstairs. I already ate there, go get some food, you two."

Me and Gippal exchanged glances before we walked outside. I slipped my boots on and followed Gippal down the stairs. He didn't say anything about the more than akward position I woke up in and I didn't bring it up, either. Gippal led me to a smaller room with a wide variety of breakfast stuff. We grabbed our food and sat down.

Everything remainded in silence until the front door opened - we were too far away to hear the voices, or see them - the Innkeeper, though, gestured in our direction with a swing of his hand. Gippal frowned at that and looked at me questioningly, I shrugged. He turned back to the room's entrance when Baralai and Nooj's heads poked around the corner. He grinned at them happily.

"Geez, took you long enough!" Gippal called out to them, gesturing for them to grab a chair and sit down.

Nooj shook his head slolwy. "Hello, Gippal. Rikku." He greeted.

I grinned at them. "It's been a while, huh?" I asked happily, taking a bite of my toast.

"Yes, it has been." He agreed quietly, pulling a chair up to our small table and sitting down. "I believe you had something to show us, Gippal?"

"Yeah, but we're just gonna finish eating first." He said lightly, dumping a packet of jam onto his toast. "I haven't eaten since....yesterday morning, maybe later."

I gestured at the heaping pile of jam on his toast. "Do you want some toast with that jam, Gippal?" I asked, hoping my voice sounded formal.

He grinned and took a huge bite. "You're just jealous cause the jam likes me best, _Cid's girl_." He said smugly, adding a wink with my oh-so-hated nickname.

My eyes narrowed. "That was totally uncalled for! I didn't even say anything! See? Now, I'm not talking to you anymore." I said, leaning back and dumping the scraps of food into a nearby garbage can.

Nooj chuckled. "It's good to see things haven't changed between you two." He said softly, looking at Gippal expectantly to finish.

We exchanged glances and grinned at each other. If only they knew...

By the time Gippal had finished, the door opened again. Nooj and Baralai exchanged knowing glances. When we entered the hallway, Baralai waved.

"It looks like the rest of our party has joined us." He said softly.

I stepped up to them to see who they were talking about, when a brown-haired woman crashed into me and pulled me into a hug, successfully knocking the air out of the lungs.

"Oh, Rikku! I missed you so much!" My cousin cried, tightening her arms around my waist. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Where did you go? What were you thinking?!"

I gasped lightly and tried to loosen Yuna's hold. "Ow...Yunia, can't breath..." I choked out.

She released me immediately and I took in a lung full of air appreciatively. Paine, Brother and Buddy stepped up to me - Shinra was inspecting the Commsphere in the corner. They all looked me over suspiciously - making sure I wasn't injured.... which I was. Their gazes all stopped on my side.... and the long scar that decorated my skin there. I looked down at it and frowned. Tidus must have used a potion or something on me when I was asleep, because it didn't hurt as much. It didn't even look that bad - not compared to Gippal's wound....

Paine leaned forward to inspect it further and annoyance flashed through me. "I'm fine, guys! Really, I just kinda....fell....down..." I murmured, looking down when Paine let out a snort.

"Fell down what, Rikku?" She countered, standing to her full height. "The Luca Stadium?"

"No, a flight of stairs." I responded nonchalantly.

Brother stepped up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, leaning forward so he could whisper in my ear. "_He_ did this to you, didn't he..." Brother didn't mean it as a question, but I answered anyway.

"No way, Brother! Gippal was totally trying to stop him from push-" I cut of immediately and my eyes widened. The Gullwings - and Baralai and Nooj - all shot me shocked expressions.

"Somebody _pushed_ you?" Buddy asked in disbelief, looking down at my stomach in a new light.

"Who pushed you, Rikku?" Brother growled out, anger flashing across his eyes.

"Actually, he didn't really _push_ her." Gippal said quietly from behind me, his eyes focused on a speck on the wall. "He kind of threw her, it was really horrible."

My friends all looked back at me, while I just glared at Gippal - who had a smile spreading across his face.

"Hey! You're the who told him to drop me!" I complained, his head shot in my direction.

"Only because he was holding a gun to your head!" He argued.

"Which he wouldn't have done, if you hadn't come in breaking the door down!"

"Why are you standing up for him?!"

"I'm not! I'm argueing with you!"

"Yeah? Well, it seems to me that-"

"Will you two shut up?!" Paine snapped, we both complied and looked at her nervously. "Explain, _now_. From the beginning."

We exchange glances and smiled nervously. "It'll be better if you can see, first." I said quietly, slipping past my friends and jogging up the stairs, with Gippal behind me. They followed after a few seconds.

It didn't take us long to reach the room and the horrors started.

* * *

Okay, the next chappie's gonna be shorter, cause it's like a part 2 of this chapter, so it's still gonna be in Rikku's POV, okay?


	17. Horrors part 2

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

* * *

Gippal slipped the key inside as I started talking to Buddy about completely random topics - mostly the new Machina pieces he had found. Ever since I was little, Buddy had tried to include me in things. Including his Machina. Since most adults didn't want to talk to a kid about their jobs, he'd talk to me when Brother was busy. He'd take a piece of Machina apart and explain what he was doing, and stuff like that. I learned most of the stuff I know from Buddy.

When Buddy was half way through the explaining the complexity and artificial intelligence of his newest project, Gippal let the door swing open and he grinned at me.

"Honey, I'm home!" He called into the room with a laugh. I giggled as he kicked his shoes off. The others exchanged glances.

"How long does it take you two to eat something? Did you start making out or something?" Tidus' voice reached us. Everyone behind us stiffened but we continued inside.

"Oh, bite me, meanie. You're just jealous of my awesome-ness." I said smugly, leaning against the wall nonchalantly.

"We brought some people for you to meet, Blondie." Gippal said happily, flopping onto the couch. "Oh, and guess what. You're stuck explaining things to them. Get it, got it, good."

I laughed and gestured for my friends to come in. Yuna was the only one who moved. She slowly made her way past me and froze a few feet from me. I grinned happily at Tidus and Gippal. Tidus looked up and his face brightened considerably.

"Yuna!" Tidus greeted happily, jumping from his seat. "Wow! You don't know how good it is to see you again!"

"What have you done?" Yuna breathed softly, too quiet for her voice to reach Tidus. Me and Gippal frowned. Yuna turned to me with tears in her eyes. "What have you done, Rikku?"

My frown deepened. "Well, we found this sphere and it had-" My voice cut off when Yuna's hand connected with my cheek with a loud smacking noise.

"What did you do, Rikku?! You can't just bring back the dead! Are you crazy?!" Yuna screamed, lowering her shaking hand into a fist.

I didn't respond, just lifted a hand to feel my stinging cheek. There was a slight wetness closer to my temple and my mind wandered back to when I had fallen down the steps. I hit my head.

Without thinking of anything else, I bolted from the room. Easily twisting between my friends and down the hallway, too fast for them to catch me.

Gippal's call echoed behind me, but I didn't stop. "Rikku!"

I almost collided with the Inn's front doors, but pushed them out of my way and ignored the yells of the Innkeeper to stop running in his hotel. There were very few Guado out this early, a few congratulated me on my victory, but I ignored them to and kept running. A familiar voice caught my attention and I slowed slightly when someone grabbed me. I was pulled behind a large tree and the voice made 'shh'ing sounds. My friends ran past a few seconds later. Yuna had tears pouring down her face - which was okay, I wasn't mad at her for slapping me. I probably would have done the same thing, but I needed some alone time, or whatever.

When I was sure they were gone, I pulled out of the strangers grip. Turning around, I gasped.

Mnhal was standing nonchalantly, leaning against a tree casually. He smiled at me. "Hey, Rikku. Long time, no see."

I took a nervous step backwards and tried to dive away from him, but he jumped on me and held me tightly to his chest. He muttered a few quick 'shh's and a strange calm spread through my system, I suddenly wasn't as worried about being that close to him. He let his arms drop and I didn't move. A small voice sounded in my head.

_'I thought he was dead, check just in case.'_

I turned around to look at him. His face was as tan as it was the first time I met him, not the deathly pale from the underground platform. Mnhal smiled softly at me and brushed a strand of my hair behind my ear, I didn't flinch away.

_'Wow, he's cute.'_

The voice told me lightly, I couldn't help but agree. Even though the thought had ever entered my head before this, I couldn't help but see the physical attraction this guy held. Mnhal placed a finger under my chin and started angling my head towards his. Panic shot through me again, but I didn't move. A sickening smile spread across his face when I stood on tip-toes. What's going on? Why can't I move my body?! Mnhal moved his hands to my waist as he moved closer to me. No...no, please no!

He pulled me closer to him, so our lips were almost touching. A tear of frustration slid down my cheek and Mnhal's grin widened. His lips were barely separated and I could feel him pulling me closer still.

A gun shot rang through the small alley.

* * *

Like I said, this was just a part 2 of the chapter before this. I just wrote this cause I didn't feel like making that last chapter any longer. I hate short chapters - like this one - and longer chapters, too. Cause then I can't just 'finish this chapter' I have to read a gadgillion words before I'm finished. Well, anyway, the next chap will be in Gippie's POV. lol XD


	18. Rings

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

* * *

I watched in horror as Yuna's hand collided with Rikku's cheek. Her head snapped in my direction, so I could see the small scar of Rikku's temple open up and the dot of blood trail down her cheek. Yuna was yelling at her cousin with tears in her eyes, but all I saw was Rikku lift her hand up and touch her cheek. She pulled her hand away and looked at her bloodied fingers. My form stiffened and I barely noticed Tidus stand up to look at Yuna in bewilderment. Everyone else was frozen at the shock of what Yuna had just done - she wasn't exactly one to go around slapping people. But, I guess the shock of seeing your dead husband would put you through alot of stress.

Rikku raised her eyes from her hand to her cousin. Yuna's face froze when she saw the blood, and her previous reaction was finally catching up to her.

"Rikku..." Yuna choked out, tears starting to stream down her face. "Rikku, I'm-"

Obviously, the young Al Bhed either didn't care or didn't hear, because she bolted out of the room. I was after her in an instant, calling after her down the hallway. Even using 'Cid's Girl' a few times in hope that she would hear, get mad at me and then come back to yell.... she didn't.

I turned to Yuna and sent her a dangerous look. She didn't notice, her eyes were completely focused her hand - still slightly red. Tears were streaming down her face and it was like she couldn't believe what she did.... it was like something another person did...

Panic shot through my system and I let out a string of swear words. "_Tyssed,_ Rikku!" I snapped, shoving the Gullwings out of the way and running past my two friends. All I could think of was the scene of Mnhal shoving Rikku down the stairs.

When I reached the Inn's front door, I quickly reloaded my gun and followed the shocked looking Guado - it would shock anyone to see a small Al Bhed girl run past at that speed. I ran past numerous people, barely aware of the people following me. When the Guado around us stopped looking as shocked and bewildered as they had I spun around. The others almost crashed into me, but my gaze was focused entirely on a small alleyway.

I made a gesture for them to all stay put while I crept towards the small space between two large trees.

When I reached the alleyway, my blood literally started boiling. Mnhal was standing with Rikku. He had his hands around her waist and was roughly pulling her towards him. A sickening smile was spread across his face and his lip were only a few centinmeters away from hers. Rikku had her head angled towards his, her arms were hanging limply at her sides and she made no move to push him off. The thing that stood out most was her eyes. Her normally bright, shining eyes were dazed and clouded over, but I could still see the panic behind the swirls. I was about to pull my gun out, but a single tear slipped down Rikku's cheek and I snapped. Without aiming, I lifted my revolver and pulled the trigger.

Mnhal jumped back from it, but Rikku barely moved. She stumbled slightly when Mnhal pulled his hands off her, she blinked a few times and her eyes cleared. Both of their heads shot in my direction.

"Gippal!" Rikku almost cried, taking a step forward to run towards me.

Mnhal reached forward and grabbed her ponytail, yanking her back to his side. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled a knife our with his free hand, letting her blond hair slip through his fingers. The disgusting smile spread across his face again as he pressed his nose against Rikku's hair and inhaled deeply.

"I see why you like this girl, Gippal." Mnhal murmured, brushing the flat side of the knife against her cheek softly. He ran it along the blood on her temple and held it up to his face to inspect it. "Females are so breakable, no? Just a wrong turn and they will irrepairable for life."

Rikku stiffened in his grip, her eyes completely focused on his blade. I could see her shaking from where I was. This guy was a phychopath.

"They'd be utterly useless, but for this." He held the blade out as if showing me her blood. "Their blood can do so much for us.... so much they are incapable of alone. Especially this young girl. Such a tragic story... Lost her mother at three-years, almost died at seven, got shipped off onto a Machina Retrieval group at tweleve. Fought Sin at fifeteen, Vegnagun at sixteen. And then, my Master at seventeen." He shook his head slowly and smiled up at me. "Such a sad story.... Very tragic..."

_'Shoot him._' A soft, barely audiable voice said in the back of my head. It was slightly familiar, but I couldn't place name to voice.

Mnhal smiled again. "That and the obvious." He moved his knife slightly, so it was in front of her neck instead, and ran his toungue over Rikku's cheek. She stiffened and made a disgusted noise - obviously trying not to gag. I stiffened as well and tightened my grip on the gun.

"Let her go, and I'll make it painless." I growled out. My eye darted all over him, any possible shot I had was blocked by Rikku. He crouched himself down so his head was just behind hers and the only parts of skin I could see - the parts of him that were larger than Rikku - weren't possible to shoot without skimming Rikku.

_'Shoot him _through_ her.' _ The voice said again.

She'll die! I snapped at the voice.

_'No, trust me.'_ It said.

I ignored it and turned my attention back to the scene before me. Mnhal had Rikku's necklace on the tip of his blade and was inspecting it casually.

"This is a new feature." He murmured to himself, following the green swirl with his thumb. His eyes flickered up to me. "Did you bye her this, Gippal?"

I didn't respond

_'Shoot him.'_ The voice insisted.

My gaze focused on the necklace and then the small white paper sticking out of Rikku's pocket. Of course.

_Kiytu turned away from Rikku and towards me. She started walking, ignoring Rikku's pleas. When she was closer she crouched in front of me and held her hand out. A small yellow sphere appeared in her hand and she held it a few inches from my chest. She looked up at me - as if making sure I was good enough for Rikku - she nodded to herself and pressed the glowing sphere against my chest. All that was left was a soft tingling where it went in a warm feeling spreading through my heart._

I shook my head softly and pulled the safety off, aiming in the place I estimated Mnhal's heart to be. This is crazy. _You better know what you'e doing, Kiytu, this is your only daughter, after all_. A soft laugh - so much like Rikku's - filled my head.

Without waiting for another threat from Mnhal, I pulled the trigger.

Everything went in slow-mo. Rikku and Mnhal's eyes widened in disbelief as the bullet shot towards Rikku's chest. She closed her eyes tightly and he stepped back - knowing that she was small enough, so the bullet would keep going through her and into him. He wasn't fast enough. The bullet took a strange yellow glow, mere seconds before it slammed into Rikku. She stumbled slightly, but it went through her chest and into Mnhal. He fell backwards with a loud thud. Rikku opened her eyes and blinked a few times, staring at the should-be bullet hole. She looked up at me in confusion, I just shook my head.

The next few hours passed in a blur. Rikku's friends insisted on taking her home, to Bikanel. Paine and Yuna both changed to their White Mage Dresspheres and healed mine and Rikku's wounds to their extent. Brother kept sending us strange looks over his shoulder while Tidus explained to everyone what had happened. Rikku and I both sat on a small two-seater in the corner of the Celsius, both utterly exhausted.

"Hey, Gippal." Rikku's voice said quietly beside me. I looked down, her eyes were focused on the group in front of us. "Do you think that Mnhal was right?"

Her question was more asking for my opinion than something she should rely on. I shurged. "No way in hell, Rikku. Listen, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for one of those 'weak females.'" I told her drawing parenthesis in the air, gesturing at the bandages - Yuna had forced me into - on my side.

She smiled softly and grinned up at me. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and leaned back, she placed her head on my chest. A smile spread across her face as we watched Tidus' exaggerated recreation of our battle with Seymour. Baralai and Nooj had taken Seymour to Bevelle for questioning and taken Mnhal's - _lnywo pycdynt _- body with them. Yuna spent her time split now, half the time she was clinging to Tidus - as if he was just going to up and die again - and apologizing to Rikku and telling her how much they all love her. Brother, Buddy and Shinra were arguing about the best way to get back to Bikanel and Brother's voice - more often than not - rose a bit higher than 'indoor voice' so Paine would yell at them to shut up, then turn back to Tidus and ask another question of what happened. Me and Rikku stayed curled up on the love-seat until we reached Bikanel. With my legs stretched out on the cushions and my arms wrapped around her waist. Her back was pressed against my stomach and her head on my chest. Her hands were folded over mine lightly.

Just a day in our lives, I guess.... just a day in the life...

"Hey, Gippal." Rikku's voice spoke up, she leaned her head back slightly so she was looking at me upside down. "You never told me what was in your box."

I grinned at her and smiled. "Can't we just keep some secrets in this relationship?" I responded, squeezing her waist playfully.

She giggled. "Not when it has to do with my mother, we can't." She pulled a hand off mine and fingered the small box that belonged to her father - she had given the other one to Brother already, and he almost broke down in tears. She had her necklace on and the note shoved in her pocket.

I sighed. "I'll tell you later, Rikku. When your not so tired that you'll forget in the morning." I told her with a yawn.

She looked into my eye before sighing and closing her eyes. "Promise?" She asked, her voice almost childish.

"Al Bhed's honor." I shot back softly, planting a kiss on the top of her head.

She sighed softly.

"Hey, Rikku?" I asked, looking down at her.

"Hmm?" She responded, her voice coated in exhaustion.

"I was thinking." I murmured.

"That's a change of pace." I heard Paine mutter from across the room.

"Oh, haha. Butt out, Paine!" I snapped at her, lowering my voice so only Rikku could hear. "I was thinking about...um... life and whatever.... How....how would you feel about coming to live at the Machine Faction?"

Rikku tilted her head backwards to look at me in confusion. "Huh?" She asked in confusion.

"With me...at the Machine Faction... I could hire you, if you want, but I wouldn't ask you to work." I said quickly, brushing a small strand of her bangs behind her ear.

She grinned at me. "We'll see. When I'm not too tired that I'll forget in the morning." She saic copying my words.

I laughed, completely focused on the small purple box in my back pocket. The small explanation note inside and the smaller, fist-sized velvet box.... with the perfectly made gold marriage ring inside....

* * *

_Gippal,_

_I do not know you as much as I would like, but I can tell you are a good-hearted man and am willing to give you permission to marry my daughter - if she so chooses. I know this is probably a very forward gift to you, but I do not have long and would like to show my approval in a good way. I couldn't thing of anything better than giving you the ring - of course you can bye your own, but I would appreciate if you gave this to Rikku at some time, it is the ring my mother gave me and I would prefer it with my daughter than in the ground with my body. I told Cid to let up on you, for you hold our daughter's heart. (I also told him to stop making fun of Brother's hair, so he probably won't listen to either, but he'll try.) Please take care of my daughter and protect her. Like I said, I do not know you as well as I wish but - since you are a special person to my daughter - I already love you like a son._

_Love, Kiytu: Your future Mother-in-law. (Hopefully)._


	19. Epilogue

_**Disclaimer**_

I don't own Final Fantasy. I don't own Final Fantasy X or X-2. Or any other Final Fantasy game. Not even Crystal Chronicals. But I do own the way the story is put together in this fic, so please don't take the only thing I have. Ok?

* * *

I followed Gippal slowly over the small bridge, pausing only to see the large Koi fish in the stream. Gippal turned back to me, his eyes shining happily at me. A few people were sitting in the grass - relaxing for their break. I had only agreed to come to Djose if he'd let me work, as well. It didn't seem fair of me to use a room here _and_ eat their food, but not do anything to deserve it. Gippal said he had a few people add another room next to his - with conjoining doors, just in case - and that's where I would stay.

I had a small backpack on my shoulder and Gippal - he had insisted - was carrying another with my personal stuff inside. A few things Yuna and Paine had given me (Pepper spray being one of them: Thanks, Paine!), a pair of shiny new Cellsphers from Shinra (for me and Gippal), Brother gave me a majorly long note telling me what I was and wasn't aloud to do with Gippal (with a nice brotherly 'have a fun time in your new home, if you forget about me I'll kick your ass, and I love you.') Buddy had given me a new piece of Machina to play with on the ride there, Tidus had went to the store and gotten me an adorable Chocobo plushie and a Blitzball. _Vydran _had taken it better than expected (only because he was still so shocked about a letter from his dead wife at the time) but, Brother had told us he'd call ahead if Pops started ranting about it later, to warn us.

Um... Yuna and Tidus are moving in to a nice little house on Besaid, pretty close to Lulu and Wakka. Tidus and Wakka help train the Aurochs in their spare time (Gippal said their gonna need more than spare time to beat the Phychs, I laughed). Yuna and Tidus are trying to get pregnant, but she's just helping with Vidina until then (fingers crossed, Yunie!). Paine is coming out of her shell and me and Yunie are pretty positive she has a not-so-little crush on Baralai - he's the only one who's oblivious-, but she just moved into a house in Kilika for now. Nooj and LeBlanc had an - apparently - very intimate discussion about where their relationship was going (she insisted on giving me every little detail - which kinda grossed me out). Brother and Buddy were staying on Bikanel to help with Home's revival and to upgrade the Celsius, yet again. Shinra was planning to make a Commsphere headquarters where they manufactered Commspheres (obviously). Me and Brother were bugging him about finding a better name than Commspheres inc. (Though _our_ suggestions sucked just as bad.) And, now, me and Gippal lived together at Djose Temple: Headquarters of the Machine Faction.

Gippal stopped at the end of the bridge and turned back to me, he grinned. "Not having second thoughts, are you?" He asked, the small touch of seriousness in his voice told me how worried he actually was about that. He let the joking tone drop and continued seriously. "Cause if it's too soon..."

I shook my head and gestured at the water. "No way, you're not getting rid of me that easily." I paused, looking back the fish. "This water's really pretty... I've never stopped to look at it before..."

He laughed and jogged back, standing behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. "Yeah...it is beautiful..." He agreed.

I turned around and he was staring directly at me. I laughed happily, slipping my hand into his.

He gestured at Djose's front doors. "Welcome home, Lady Rikku." He said formally, gesturing me on.

I laughed and leaned against his shoulder. "Same to you." I responded lightly, closing my eyes.

* * *

Ah! I can't believe it's over *sobs*. This was totally heart-breaking for me to write, I was just sitting here, glaring at the screen and refusing to finish it! Some of you are probably saying 'why are you stopping then?' And you know what? I asked myself that very same thing! So, I thought about it! And I have no idea! This story deserves a sequel and I will make it one, _Tyssed_! So, I'm gonna do a question and answer page after this, then I'll start on the sequel. Don't check back alot, though. Cause it'll probably be a while for me to think up an idea and then make start making the ideas. But, I will make a sequel! So, don't sorry about it, guys!


End file.
